Into The Silver Sea
by TheGirlWithHerHairOnFire
Summary: I want to be the one to break into his shell, to break the ice and save him from himself before it becomes to late..for the both of us. SetoxOC
1. Chapter 1

A sleek black limo parted its way through the rain, lights flashing like angry red lightning.

The engine rumbled as it came to a stop, the clouds above instantly mimicking the menacing growl. A cocktail of colorfull leaves swayed in the wind like raging sea waves climbing to the heavens, anchored only by the thick trunks that dug into the Earth's entrails.

Black window wipers screamed like a war cry that challenged the wind's shrill howls as they ran back and forth shoving rain off the glass, demanding their terrain back.

Teens attired in blue uniforms ran helplessly toward the large brick building that stood defying the growing storm, backpacks and jackets raised high above their heads as an only solitude, their steps parting the puddles that nesteled into the pavement's dents.

Long gray minutes passed before a tall man dressed in black stepped out of the front passenger seat of the awaiting limosuine wearing sunglasses, despite the wild weather.

He walked briskly to the back of the limo, raindrops sliding off his bald head in a frenzy, serious expression never once faltering as if oblivious to the downpour surrounding him.

A gleaming silver handle clicked as the rear door opened in symmetry to the black umbrella now extending itself against the pale sky like a birds wings set to take flight. The man placed himself in position as Seto Kaiba stepped out of the vehicle and into the outstretched umbrella, the fortress proving that not even Mother Nature would get her hands on him.

His hollow orbs scanned the demonic prison the average person called school. A small amount of vomit creeped up his throat watching the selection of his 'classmates' that ran around like idiots chasing each other under the rain as if they were new to this planet.

Wet footsteps made their way to the entrance of the school, sloshing loudly, pounding into the pavement, followed loyally by the man and the umbrella to the utmost perfect precision. He stood as the doors slid open upon sensing his presence, hissing as in reverence to the man that stood before them.

The school that greeted him was large, inhabiting a vast old estate, once home to the richest family in the city now remodeled to home the most prestigious high school in the country. It's high placement in national competitions and secluded area were only some of the main appeals of the school who's famous name stood extended towards the sky above the arched entrance to the ample yard, raindrops gliding off its bronze letters.

The impeccable selection of indoor arrangements and spirited words pasted upon the walls to motivate its student population were anything but impressive to the young CEO, his expectations of the institute placed highly enough, all though in his opinion the teachers taught things he had known since he could walk and he wouldn't feed the cafeteria food to a dog, high expectations not quiet met.

The transparent dome that sat at the intersection of the four hallways cast a white flash of lightning onto the mass of students below, the creaking thunder hushing the animated conversation inside.

He walked briskly to the metallic white locker awaiting him, which he had ordered be in a secluded section of the eastern hallway, away from the immature boys and the girls who would give even an organ for a miniscule amount of his attention.

Expert fingers turned the knob in a perfect rendition of a three number combination, instantly clicking open. He neatly set his suitcase inside with a quiet _thunk_ and glanced at his watch. A sliver of gold ticked from number to number, the hour he was due at slowly arriving. A black binder found its way out and into his arms as he shut his locker, making his way to Room 141.

The crowds in the hall were at odds between the teens who had become accustomed to the CEO's presence, and the ones who's eyes still glazed over when he walked by.  
He on the other hand, had become blind to every last soul in the building since day one, ignoring the drooling airheads that giggled at his mere presence and internally laughing at the lunatics who thought they could stand up to him, only to be put down in shame.

His solitary demeanor and rash personality made for an impeding force field around him, chasing off peers that might suit the possibility of a friendship.

The only group of teens familiar enough to him were Yugi and his gang, their scholarships sent instantly upon news of their tournament triumphs, all tough they too were kept victims of his indifference.

He entered the classroom, first as usual, and took his seat in the back, the cold desk sitting alone against the wall, much to his preference. An old woman with wires of grey hair spewing from a bun was sitting at the oak desk that stood in the front of the classroom, mind lost in the confines of a book, oblivious to his presence.

Soon afterward the classroom started to flood with teenagers, each one of them brain dead in Kaiba's opinion, simply existing to fulfill a space in humanity.

Text books opened and papers rustled, a hushed murmur of voices all indicating the beginning of a new day.

The woman stood from her desk and soothed out the creases in her knee length skirt, age tainted hands gleaming with a simple selection of fine jewelery. After a brief greeting, she uncapped a marker as she started to write equations on the board in bright blue numbers.

The soft thud of the raindrops as they hit the roof of the school made for a tempting lullaby and the teachers hushed, aged voice only sweetened the allure, like wine that slid round and round a glass in a mesmerizing potion.

Kaiba felt the weight of sleepless nights and long days fall heavily on his eyelids, his selective lifestyle leaving no room for rest, the struggle between his mind and body becoming harder and harder.

Just as he was about to drift off into a realm of sleep, someone knocked on the door, sweeping away his drowsiness and springing to mind his attention. The teacher took patient steps toward the door and pulled it open with a creak, instantly greeting a secretary Kaiba recognized from the School Services office.

They exchanged papers as the young brunette explained something in her high pitched voice, dwindling earrings violently shaking as she spoke. She stepped back and waved her goodbye before the sounds of her clicking heels became dimmer and dimmer. The old woman kindly addressed someone outside the classroom and then turned back to her pupils, a gentle smile on her thin lips.

"Class," she addressed, "we have a new student today. Her name is Silver LeRouse."

"Is that how you pronounce it dear?" She asked someone standing on the other side of the doorway. She nodded at the answer she received and walked back into the classroom followed by a young girl.

Her legs stretched long like a summer sunset and her hair shone a blue black tone, as if feathers of a raven had been woven into its long curls, contrasting pleasantly with milk white skin. She had an aura to her that screamed friendliness, which made Kaiba sick.

True to her name, her eyes were silver, like the moon's reflection in the ocean. They were rimmed with long eyelashes as black and curled as her hair. Faded pink lips stammered a shaky greeting, matching the pink blotches that hugged her cheekbones, like a pond wrapping around a flowered garden.

She avoided direct eye contact with anyone, and her plastic smile flashed as rapidly as the lightning outside.

He could feel the class stiffen the second she walked in. Almost instantly people started muttering and whispering things about her as if she were some kind of new species on display at the local zoo, heeding no mercy.

She whispered a few things to the teacher as she placed a small pair of reading glasses on the bridge of her nose and wrote them down in her record book. Kaiba noticed the slight tremble in her hands as she wrapped her fingers into the metallic spiral of a plain black notebook, her uneasiness evident. The woman looked up from behind the fragile glasses, scanning the small classroom and Kaiba knew she was deciding where the new girl was going to sit.

He felt a pang of irritation strike him when the teens all looked to the single empty seat in the classroom, directly in front of him. He recoiled at the thought of her sitting there and wanting to make conversation or corrupt his concentration. He was not one to easily tolerate having strangers too close to him, invading his personal space.

Kaiba considered placing his binder on the seat, perhaps outsmarting the teacher into thinking someone already occupied the seat and had merely stepped out, though his logic came too late.

The teacher had directed her to the seat, long legs already carrying her in his direction.

As she settled her body into the seat, agitating her hair, Kaiba felt a familiar tingle of strawberry drift into the air, his senses wrapping to the disgust forming in his throat, how he loathed it when people approached much too close to him.

She sat down without so much as a glance his way and the class continued, although no one concentrated. People kept looking her way and muttering things, the girls trying to point out non existing flaws and the boys rehearsing pickup lines that not even his deceased grandmother would have fallen for.

Kaiba acknowledged that she was different looking, not like many girls he had ever seen, but certainly nothing to swoon over, indeed he had seen better.

She seemed to understand the lesson better than half of the students in the class and even participated a few times, gradually overcoming her initial shyness. Kaiba wasn't impressed seeing as to he had known all of this before uttering his first words, something he highly doubted some morons in the class had even done yet.

The shrill bell rang after the 45 minutes of class had transpired and no one was surprised when Kaiba was the first one out.

He took long strides to his locker; parting the sea of idiots he called his 'peers'.

A mental stream of complaints swam inside his head as he approached his locker, footsteps skidding to a stop mid hallway when he saw the new girl standing in front of the locker next to his, one hand holding a small piece of paper and the other turning the dial.

He felt like suing the school for going against his wishes about keeping his locker private but even he knew how ridiculous it sounded. He regained his composure, his expression hardening into ice to the velocity of his mood as he continued his way towards his locker.

He ignored her presence as he swiftly turned the knob and clicked the locker door open.

The girl turned upon hearing the sound of the door open, smiling a smile so warm it could have rotted his entire blood stream.

"Hello. I know who you are," She started.

_"Great, another fangirl." _He thought, rummaging through his locker. He buried his attention in the spine of the books his fingers were caressing, searching for the correct title.

Her voice reached his ears though her words didn't. Its tone was scratchy like running on gravel and edgy like the tip of a skyscraper scratching the clouds.

"My father was a partner of your company for a very long time until the contract expired and I believe..."

Kaiba was starting to find her voice amazingly annoying and almost felt like shutting himself in his locker just to drown her out.

"Anyway, I'm Silver." She finished with a breathy sigh, extending a hand out to shake. He finally found what he was looking for and slammed his locker shut, rushing by the girl without even glancing her way.


	2. Chapter 2

The rain outside fell harder and harder in thick walls of water as the hours passed and the heavy clouds refused to leave. A thunderous groan fell down to Earth after a crack of lightning struck the gray sky, signaling that lunchtime would again be spent inside.

Kaiba sat on a bench located near the entrance typing away on his laptop, looking up every now and then, making sure he wasn't disturbed. He could hear the incoherent screams of the few who had ventured outside and the nonstop chatter of the teens that spent their lunchtime inside.

A girl with long black hair rushed by him and evoked the thought of the new girl, his senses alerted for another encounter, although after close inspection it was evident it hadn't been her.

His eyes traveled back down to the gleam of his laptop screen, stock numbers crowding his view. As he studied the flock of shifting numbers, he remembered the subject the new girl had brought up, mentioning that her dad had ben working with Kaiba before being let go at the end of his contract. It seemed unfortunate that someone who had entered his life so fastidiously had formerly been linked to his company, though surely he had a very good reason not to have renewed the man's contract.

He tucked away the conversation into a pit full of unimportant equals that had been presented unto him in the course of his life, one swift finger shutting of his laptop.

He looked up to the pale white wall, resting his eyes on the ticking clock that sat lonely upon it. He had ten minutes before the herd of animals came stomping in, wet smell and all.

With a creak of the bench he stood up and traced the familiar path to his locker, taking in the deep smell of pure rain as it poured in through the slits of the partially open windows. A fresh breeze swept throughout the hallway playing with strands of his chocolate stained hair, swaying it in and out of his eyes. The floors were lightly littered with notes and exams people had carelessly dropped, the janitor quickly making use of the time he had to sweep it all away.

He arrived at his locker and expertly turned the knob until he heard the familiar click. He packed his laptop back into his suitcase, reaching down to collect the utensils required for Art class.

The bell rang followed almost immediately by the squeaking of wet shoes against the tile and lockers opening and closing. He looked up to see Silver making her way to her locker, a serious expression on her face as was often the result of spending lunch alone. She took short quick steps and again avoided anyone's direct gaze. Her thick hair gathered around her face like a veil that danced in the wind, celebrating a cause unknown to the outer world.

Kaiba was quick to shut his locker, turning to avoid her gaze and rushing past her, another encounter not within his immediate desires.

He turned unto a lonely hallway then into a room tucked far into the corner, wincing at the bright lights positioned above as he made his way to the last counter. He set his things down, pausing to rub away the headache that had been lingering in the back of his head for the better half of the day.

He sat down on the wooden stoll and waited as the large room started to fill with teens who looked as eager as a puppy getting neutered.

They settled in as the rain weakened and the mood in the classroom dulled. Few were listening to the teacher and even fewer were awake.

Kaiba let his attention drift first unto the blank page beneath his pencil then to the blank skies outside.

The wind crashed against the trees and dispersed the leaves into a mad frenzy until they fell to the ground in colorful heaps. The rain splashed noisily on the gravel and formed small streams along the border of the road like miniature rushing rivers.

Immediately his attention was drawn to a peculiar splash that was neither black nor gray, but a bright red that belonged to a raincoat. His eyes narrowed as he made out the figure of a young blonde girl clutching her raincoat to her slim body and taking hesitant steps along the road.

"Mr. Kaiba, if what is outside is more interesting than what's in here, you're welcome to leave." He heard the teacher say, her toad like voice interrupting his thoughts.

Stools creaked as the pupils turned to face the CEO.

He turned his attention back to the painting at the front of the room and remained still, ignoring the questioning glares of the others, taking a peek every now and then at the girl outside.

Minutes that seemed hours passed while the rain finally slowed to a stop.

Kaiba's eyes drifted to the clock on the wall, searching its numbers for a sign of rendition before turning again to the girl.

She stood at the entrance of the school, soaking wet. Her emerald green eyes scanned the building, until she reached the classroom Kaiba was in. She caught his eyes in hers and the moment seemed to stretch into years, her gaze sending chills up Kaiba's spine until they erupted into a silent shiver.

Her head suddenly jerked to the side and she ran off, her long legs carrying her further and further away until she completely disappeared behind a corner.

The bell rang, snapping Kaiba out of his thoughts and returning his attention to the classroom. The last of the students were leaving the room with Kaiba rushing behind them, his mind still straining to comprehend the odd feeling the girl had provoked in him.

The rest of the day followed the same dull pattern. Teachers that droned on and on about non interesting subjects, pupils who's brained never seemed to have evolved at all, common happenings in his everyday school life.

If the board weren't so adamant about his education being certified he would have been long gone into the confines of his company, never taking another look back at the institute that represented hours of his life spent.

The only novelty in his day was that Silver was in two more of Kaiba's classes, much to his dismay.

The hallway gradually emptied as the yelling and shouting reduced to faint footsteps and a few low whispers. Kaiba stood at his locker packing the last of his books into his suitcase. His limbs felt weak with exhaustion and his headache was beginning to drown out his thoughts, like a damn that prevented his mind from flowing its course. His body was aching for a warm bath and a mug of steaming hot black coffee.

He tilted his head back and shut his eyes, groaning in exhaustion and desperation.

After glorified seconds he forced his eyes open and shut his locker, the loud noise echoing off the walls and seeping painfully into his ears. His tired legs led him to the main entrance as he fought to keep his every step dignified despite the fatigue.

He twisted his features in dismay upon arriving at the front entrance and spying that his scheduled ride hadn't yet arrived, yet his exhaustion seemed to overrule his anger.

He slowly sat on the bench were he had spent his lunch hour and positioned his elbows on his knees, hands covering his face.

How much time he had spent in that position was unknown to him. Exhaustion had its keen hands wrapped around his focus when he heard footsteps, getting louder and louder until they stopped followed by a small sigh. Kaiba looked up to see Silver sitting on the bench opposite him, also searching the road.

She hadn't seemed to notice him, eyes fixed on outside world. She held the same black notebook in her lap, still twisting her fingers anxiously through the spiral. Kaiba found her habit creeping up his nerves, could she not simply sit still?

His eyes stuck onto her face for minutes longer, his mind pondering what in the world would have impulsed her to think he would have cordially accepted her greeting.

She must have felt him staring because she turned her head in his direction, instantly locking her eyes onto his. Seconds of Kaiba's cold gaze were enough to send her eyes back to the road outside.

An awkward silence filled the air, the tension between them loud.

"You could have at least insulted me." She finally said with her eyes still on the road, the words seemingly murmured between pursed lips.

Kaiba looked up, an exasperated look upon his face.

"That would have taken a millisecond of my time. A millisecond I wasn't willing to waste." He said, the harsh tone in his voice breaking the tension and shattering it into mere disinterest.

She simply heaved out a heavy breath as silence filled the air again and wore Kaiba's patience.

Minutes continued to drip from the clock on the wall, sliding down the wall in the slowest of descents. Cars pulled up to the yard, peaking their interest then evaporating it when realization sunk in that it wasn't theirs.

Silver felt her eyes tugging in his direction, curiosity pounding into them.

He was notorious for his disinterest in people, his harsh dismissals known to the world, including herself.

Her father often spoke of injustice and discrimination when he brought up KaibaCorp. He spoke of the way he had been mistreated then fired upon reaching the end of his contract, flaming words spewing from his mouth when mentioning the CEO himself and his reluctance to let talent grow within the company.

Fear, he'd say, fear of becoming overruled. A cowardly, insecure little boy that lived inside the shell of a glacier, pretending to be a man. A little boy who ran off to play games instead of sitting on the throne of the empire, listening to his people.

According to her father, the company had never seen a better stage then when commanded by Gozaburo. Times of success, times of striving to reach the quarterly goals without the threats or leering presence of a sneaky figure.

She'd heard dinner time stories of appalling behavior exhibited by him towards his employees, although how much of it was true and how much of it was made up by her father, she never knew.

She couldn't help but wonder what it was he was trying so hard to conceal, to hide from the rest of the world. She knew there had to be more to him than he let on, that no human being could possibly be that distant from humanity without a valid reason.

A car honked twice before its flashing lights flooded her eyes and commanded her towards it.

Her thoughts ran with the wind outside when she stepped through the sliding doors, deciding she was going to find out, whether he wanted her to or not.

* * *

_I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoy writing it! Please feel free to review :)_


	3. Chapter 3

A petite red head stood before large mahogany doors, a cup of coffee in one hand and a compilation of folders in the other.

It was past her working hours yet again and her boss didn't seem to be in the mood to answer her insistence. He had been in a foul demeanor since he had arrived, barking orders and issuing threats, making the employees tread even more carefully around him, like dancers in a mining field.

She sighed in frustration and raised a manicured hand to the door, only to immediately retreat it, realization sinking in. Her boss was at a meeting with the legal representatives of an ex-employee who wanted to sue the company, not in his office. She rolled her cinnamon eyes at her own forgetfulness and returned to her desk.

She tucked the skin colored folders under a stack of papers and threw the cup of coffee out. Her eyes drifted to the clock slowly ticking above her desk and sunk when she saw its hour read deep into the confines of the night.

Her gaze traveled the lone waiting room, stopping at the door. No one seemed to be coming and the hour was already too late for her to get any more significant work done. Surely all Kaiba had her waiting for was his personal dismissal.  
She took her bottom lip between the grasp of her teeth, hastily deciding she would leave at her own risk and make something up tomorrow when and if she was confronted by the CEO.

She reached a small hand behind her chair and took out her purse and few belongings, taking her jacket off the seat and making sure everything was in place. She flicked off the lights and walked out of the room, leaving the door unlocked, knowing Kaiba would return.

Her short legs carried her in a quick pace into the elevator, her senses peaked for a sign of the CEO.

The sliding doors soon deposited her in the parking garage, dimmed lines painted onto the floor in rectangles, sheltering nothing at this hour. The clicking of her heels was her only company while she walked across the dark garage, a mixture of smells rising into her nostrils.

Her pace quickened in the eerie solitude until the young secretary arrived at the small red car that stood in the last of the parking rows. She hastily entered and turned the ignition until she heard the familiar growl of the engine, not wasting an instant before driving out into the street.

The remainders from the earlier downpour were still evident, gentle streams of water gliding along the curbs of the pavement. Scattered street lights provided the only illumination on a moon less night.

The young woman pressed down harder on the accelerator, her heel digging into the pedal.

The eerie silence inside the car injected her with a shot of adrenaline when it broke, a muffled ringing coming from the passenger seat. She extended her arm towards her purse, keeping her eyes on the road, blindly searching for the source of the ringing.

The shrill ringing of the device began to rise in tension, her desperation causing her to tear her eyes from the road a fraction of a second to search for the cellphone. Short instants passed before she returned her eyes to the road, immediately slamming on the brakes.

The tires squealed as she let out a small shout and the car slammed forward. A blond stopped right in front of the car, her body inches away from being hit.

Her green eyes widened and she seemed to be frozen to her spot.  
Wet blonde hair stuck to her face and her eyes shone with fear. Her thin body was wrapped with a bright red raincoat, her bare legs leading into matching red boots.

A look of relief finally sunk into her features after long seconds. She gave the secretary a small smile of gratitude then took off in the direction of Kaiba Corp.

The red head shook her head and slowly accelerated, cell phone forgotten.

_"Crazy kids."_ She muttered.

* * *

Kaiba stepped out of a room marked** 'Meetings'** and slammed the door, rubbing the bridge of his nose and shutting his eyes.

He let his back gently curve into the door, leaning as he considered the amount of problems washing down on his shoulders.

An ex-employee was suing the company on the claim that he had been treated poorly while he worked there, witnessing key wrong doings to other employees as well. He was then fired, unjustified by his account.

He had been pressing for investigations into the company and its system, not the first surely, but the only to take the matter to the law.

Kaiba let out the breath his lungs had accumulated as he made his way to his office, aching for the cup of coffee he had ordered.

The cleaning crew had long since left, leaving the floors gleaming, the reflection of his steps as clear as daylight. The windows were impossibly transparent, almost as if they weren't there and the air carried a pleasing fresch scent.

As his eyes glided over the now empty cubicles, he considered the importance of the company in his life. His pride, his utmost highest regard was held in the empire that extended its pristine ivory tiles in front of him. He had dedicated his whole life to it, striving to be the best in the business and now a stranger thought he could swoop in like an eagle picking out a fish from the ocean, removing him from his home.

A small pang of anger lit his heart at the thought of losing it, willing him to fight harder for what he knew belonged only to him.

He walked into the large waiting room, met only by the plants that gently swayed to the breeze emerging from an open window.

Kat, his secretary, wasn't at her desk and her belongings were no longer at her station, defying the very first rule of serving Kaiba: if he needed you, you were there.

Irritation flashed across his temple in the form of a severe pound, his lips already forming the words he would confront her with tomorrow.

Scowling, he crossed the waiting room in silence, the carpet beneath muffling his footsteps.

A string of keys wrapped around his fingers as he reached into the pocket of his white trenchcoat, only seconds transpiring before the correct one unlocked his office door.

He stepped inside, met with the view of the entire city stretching out before him, the glass wall behind his desk filtering in the splash of colors the city's varied buildings had to offer, the only source of light in the dim office.

A series of certificates and diplomas hung neatly on the western wall in chronological order, his name printed largely on every one of them. Beneath the framed documents, a row of shelves supporting books upon books extended itself until colliding with a set of file cabinets, all tightly locked.

On the opposing wall a plain white door with a golden knob sat shut along with an electric panel and a blue water cooler.

In the very center of the office sat a large mahogany desk, computer, printer and fax machine all sitting atop it. A small black telephone sat off to the side, its bright green light flashing incesantly.

He approached his desk and stepped behind it, clearing the papers he had hastily spewn upon its surface when called to the meeting. As his fingers ran expertly through the many files, one crisp new folder stood out to his searching eyes.

**'LeRouse Case.'**

Read a yellow post it note stuck to the face of the folder.

He crumpled the note and threw it into the trashcan beside his desk, eyes hungry for the information awaiting him. He slowly let his body seep into the large leather chair, his fingers picking through the folders insides.

His lawyers had been quick to retrieve all the information they possibly could on Lance LeRouse, his testament, his birth certificate, even the state of his bank account. He had charged more than 70,000 to a single credit card in the last month alone all in bills, school tuition and other more lavish expenses.

His estate was located on the outskirts of the city, recently acquired after moving into town from Scotia, a neighbouring city.

The man had several business degrees and was now trying to start his own chain of restaurants, not to much success.

Kaiba recalled the man as the leader of the marketing team. He had signed a 4 year contract with the company after the contract previous to that one had become invalid upon Gozaburo's dissapearance, only to not have it renewed when Kaiba suspected him of stealing money from the summer earnings of the Duel Disk.

LeRouse had been faced with no other option but to leave, all though not on the best of terms. Furious, he made an appointment with the CEO himself, claiming he was an essential piece in Gozaburo's trusted team. He threatened to open an investigation, to look not only into Kaiba's new operating system for the company but also into Gozaburo's disappearance, haste words born from a blind rage.

Bullshit.

Kaiba knew himself the amount of money and effort it took to look for the man, all from his own experience. Not only would it have proven difficult but later futile when Gozaburo's body had been found years later.

It had been him who stole the money, Kaiba was sure of it and wasn't surprised when said money never showed up after processing every single employee. His pride had gotten the best of the CEO, so he dropped it after the final payment of the man's paycheck.

He continued to scan through the folder, eyes stinging from trying to read without the necessary amount of light, words and images slowly blurring.

He was pulled harshly out of his thoughts when he heard a loud crash in the waiting room outside his office, the splitting sound ringing in his ears.

He looked up at the door he had propped open, seeing no movement on the other side.

Slowly he rose from the leather chair, straining his body to remain in the strictest of silences. Holding his breath and feeling his heart crash against his chest he made his way to the door as the adrenaline started kicking in, senses sharpened.

He gently opened the door wider, finding nothing immediately distressing. The only lighting was coming from one of the fluorescent lights on the ceiling in the hallway, his eyes scanning the room like a lion searching for its prey.

Everything apperead just as it had been when he walked in only minutes before, lights flickered on as his fingers pressed the light switch while he blinked rapidly adjusting to the change.

A blue vase that had been on Kat's desk was now on the floor shattered into tiny pieces, dirty water spilled in every direction. The few roses that had been inside were now gone. He followed the footprints that surged from the spilled water surprised to find they led to his office.

He had just come from his office; there was no way someone could have entered without him seeing. His slender fingers reached for the light switch while he scanned his office. The room was instantly lit, revealing nothing.

Everything seemed to be in order and the footprints stopped right at the foot of his desk.

He turned back to look at the waiting room then to his office, finding no other trace of entry. He sighed heavily as his shoulders drooped, releasing his tension and tossing his emotions into the excuse of fatigue.

The footprints had probably been his and the vase was too close to the edge of the desk, those seemed to represent the only logical conclusions.

He packed the case folder into his suitcase along with a few other files before turning the lights off in his office and crossing the waiting room; he stood at the door and took one last glance at the room before shutting off the lights.

He walked briskly down to the main entrance where his limousine always awaited his exit. A man in a black suit and sunglasses opened the door for him, nodding his goodbye.

He walked out into the cold night, thoughts flooding his mind. He took rapid steps to the corner where his ride was waiting, stopping harshly when he heard footsteps matching his.

As soon as he stopped the footsteps did as well, his brow furrowed, eyes shifting to the side. The street was quiet; the only sound was Kaiba breathing.

He shook it off and kept walking, the footsteps following. He quickened his pace as did the footsteps; he could feel his heart thumping harder and harder, deafening his senses.

He whirled around only to be met with an empty street.

he night wind floated towards him, caressing his face and rustling his hair. He was lightly panting, anger welling up inside of him.

Was this some kind of practical joke? Did someone think this was amusing?

He promptly made his way to the limousine, alert as can be.


	4. Chapter 4

Monday had risen once again only to descend Kaiba into another week of damnation.

What happened on Friday night had haunted Kaiba everytime he closed his eyes, everytime silence rung in his ears and spoke of only his breathing.

The entire weekend had been spent in futile attempts to rush it out of his system, to burry it behind the stack of important activites to fulfill, so far with no result.

His blue eyes now lacked the polish of a fresh gaze, instead they held a dull and opaque tone to them, the result of late work hours and high levels of stress. His hair was array and the frown on his face seemed etched deeper and deeper every passing day.

He made his way down the crowded hallway, oblivious to the stares and the insults, his indifference almost customary now.

Taking one last turn, he arrived to the classroom, first, like always. The teacher didn't show signs of acknowledging his presence as he walked in, her rapid fingers texting away on a cellphone, her attention poured unto a virtual world.

He sat at the back of the room, body achingly stiff and eyes drooping with every blink.

He did his best to keep a straight face while the other teens poured into the room, quickly filling the classroom. As the school day begun, Kaiba noticed the empty seat in front of him, much to his delight.

One less weight on his shoulders.

The rest of the day followed the usual routine: dorks trying to scam a few bucks out of him, girls undoing the first few buttons on their shirts when he passed by, pathetic.

Every last one of them.

The world continued around him in an all to dull pace, never sparking an interesting change.

Lunch time came around as Kaiba stacked his books into his locker and made his way out.

A cold breeze sharply crept its way up his neck as he took brisk steps underneath the gray clouds, the path he was to take already mapped out in his mind.

An enormous oak tree sat alone, away from the main entrance, its leaves swaying with the wind. A wide trunk sat tied down by peeking roots that rose from the grass like creatures in the ocean, no doubt his favorite spot on school grounds. He scanned the area, feeling oddly at peace, his body begging for the comforting solace of the tree.

As his breathing grew shallower and his eyes closed, a familiar sensation trickled into his mind, past events reeling in his mind like an all too familiar film.

The minute he whirled around that night a small gasp had reached his ears, although he knew it was unlikely that someone had been following so close behind and not be seen. Orders to the guards to stay even longer than usual and to be extra alert had been issued, but so far nothing out of the ordinary had turned up.

Hastily he pried his eyelids open, for he was growing sick of the monotonous aspect his mind had begun to take.

Few cars passed by on the other side of the wire fence, not unusual since the area was mostly private. The outer world didn't seem any more exciting than his school life, with little, if any, people walking by.

A mother pushed along a stroller whilst shouting at a young boy, a couple walked hand in hand, oblivious to the world. Aside from them, only one other person stood on the other side of the fence, a blonde girl with her back turned to him. Her red raincoat and boots feeling like a pebble in Kaiba's shoe, a matter he could not ignore.

He propelled his body to sit up as he squinted to get a better look at her. She seemed to be searching for something or someone, her hasty steps going in no particular direction. This time Kaiba noticed her off white skin and fragile condition, her bones peeking from the angles in her body.

Kaiba's eyes widened as familiarity sunk in and he could feel his own skin go pale. She couldn't be who his mind was conjuring, she couldn't be the girl his heart was suggesting she was.

_No._

He had already dealt with the dead and had refused to believe that they could come back. Still, no matter how many times he muttered the silent word to himself, his mind willed his logic in a different direction.

The teen was becoming angry at himself for letting those thoughts even come within a five mile radius of his mind when he knew he didn't need any further mental strain.

A grunt erupted from his throat as his trembling fingers reached to sooth the bobbing Adam's Apple that swayed with his thick gulps.

As if feeling his gaze, she turned to face him, her accuracy in meeting his gaze almost frightening.

Indeed she was the blond girl from the other day, but she wasn't just that, not even close.

_**Flashback**_

The smell of dead rodents seemed to penetrate the small orphanage, its odor rising with the ongoing downpour. The sheets of rain outside hadn't stopped all day, taking their toll on the small, weak building.

The director of the orphanage had told the children to calm down, they would be alright as long as they strictly followed the directions. But Kaiba wasn't so quick to believe the man's words. It was evident the structure would not survive the harsh storm, much less a crowd of small panicking children.

He stood in a line holding Mokuba's hand, waiting patiently for the workers to lead them out. Mokuba kept asking questions about what was going on, about what would happen to them, none of which Kaiba had the heart to answer.

Deep in the back of his mind Kaiba wondered about one of the other children, Skyelaar was her name if he remembered correctly.

She had been there longer than he and Mokuba and had also been one of the few who didn't torture Mokuba, quite the opposite she showed him around and even shared the best toys and some of her meals with him.

When Kaiba had met her she was nice to him, despite his somewhat indifferent manner of treating her sometimes. She gave him tips on who to avoid and who never to make angry, not that he felt he needed them.

He looked around, trying to not look desperate, thought her little blond head was nowhere to be seen. Their line started advancing, much to Kaiba's relief. He turned down to reassure Mokuba only to find his small hand was no longer in Kaiba's.

He stepped out of the line, ignoring the angry yelling from the workers. He ran around desperately searching for him even in the most impossible of places. He could feel the tears threatening to make their way down his features. His heart felt as if it were on fire, beating faster than humanly possible.

He ran to their bedroom, finding the door had been locked, probably for security reasons. He sighed in frustration kicking the door with all the might his small body could muster. The water had already thinly layered the floor, mixing with the few tears falling from Kaiba's chin.

He couldn't bear to lose Mokuba, never. He promised his parents, Hell he promised himself. Life wasn't worth living if he didn't have the only person that had been there even in the worst of times with him.

He stepped back from the door, tightly shutting his eyes, as if everything would be better when he opened them. The yelling and shouting seemed distant, the rushing of streams outside pounding louder and louder, the cold water now reaching his knees.

His eyes snapped open, _his knees. _

Mokuba was barely taller than that, he didn't have much time before the water fully covered him. He took a deep breath and threw himself as hard as he would let himself at the door. The door creaked open a few inches, which was just enough for Kaiba to pry it open.

His shoulder screamed pain and Kaiba could see crimson drops merge with the water below. He shook it off, concentrating on Mokuba. He pulled the door one last time and got it open, releasing a savage beast of pure water. Kaiba held his breath as the water emerged and overtook him.

The water rapidly lowered to his waist continuing its path down the hallway. Kaiba ran, almost swam, as fast as he could into the room, only to find Mokuba wasn't there.

His heart stopped momentarily.

Even if he tried looking for him elsewhere the water was up too high. His body froze, letting the current drag him along.

He had failed Mokuba. The only important thing in his life was now gone. He drifted out into the hallway, feeling his soul start to give up. Icy blue eyes started to shut, his shoulder numbing. How long it had been, he didn't know, he could feel the water start to cover his face.

A hand strongly gripped his shoulder just as his body started to sink. His eyes opened, vision blurred from the water rushing into them. He tried blinking the water out and vaguely made out a small shape.

He could feel his body being carried by the current, the hand pulling his body closer to whoever owned it, pleasant warmth against his cold skin.

The water gradually lowered until it was completely gone. Someone propped him up making him cough out streams of water. He groaned in pain and opened his eyes.

His small hand rubbed at his eyes, clearing his vision. Two workers, a man and a woman, staring intently at him, next to them Skyelaar was sitting, drenched and panting heavily.

"Mokuba." He said, barely audible. Skyelaar shakily pointed to a spot next to Kaiba then collapsed into the male workers arms.

Kaiba turned to look at his younger brother lying next to him, eyes closed. His breathing seemed forced but he was alive.

Since that day Kaiba and Skyelaar had gotten closer, almost inseparable, until the day she got adopted. Kaiba was mad at her for leaving, which he later understood hadn't been her fault.

He had found her again some years later, after he and Mokuba had gotten adopted. They reconnected like they had never before, his gratitude towards her rapidly escalating into grander feelings.

She helped Kaiba when Gozaburo made him work hours that weren't even legal, when he had to take the beatings the man justified as discipline. She was a confidant and a shoulder to lean on, but most of all she looked out for Mokuba when he couldn't, something even Kaiba would always be thankful for.

Their friendship lasted for years, eventually turning into something more, something they wouldn't comprehend, and something they wouldn't question. That was, until everything in Seto's life seemed to come crashing down.

Gozaburo disappeared, leaving him in charge of the company, in charge of his own life.

That was when he turned cold and distant, almost never leaving the company. He had instantly become this hot shot that everyone wanted their hands on, that everyone was intrigued by. Skyelaar tried getting in touch with him, only to be denied, insisting he was busy with more important matters.

When she finally confronted him she was crushed to find he denied ever feeling love for her, claiming love was for the weak, for the spineless.

Much to her dismay, he willed he away, shoved her far from his empire, his only true love.

They meet up years later at a dinner party, he almost would have claimed he didn't know her if she hadn't brought up the fact that she saved both his and Mokuba's asses.

They had a harsh argument in the parking lot afterwards, Kaiba spitting venom out in every word he uttered.

He hurt her harder than he would ever know that night, with his words and demeanor. He stood by the idea that love was for the weak, for people who didn't have enough brains to make decisions on their own.

So she left, drove off into the night in a furious fit. Kaiba knew she was the kind to let her emotions get the best of her, he knew they would dictate her actions, as irrational as they may be. He considered offering her a ride home but after the argument he found himself hoping she'd crash, he didn't need someone breathing down his neck with useless nonsense.

The minute he saw the next day's paper he regretted his words.

She had crashed, just like he had wished, but something else had happened, something no matter how angry he was he would never wish for.

She had died.

At the toll of another burden he buried himself in his work, never under any circumstances leaving his office, even when he didn't have work to do he would create some as long as his mind was occupied, as long as her name was no longer tugging at Kaiba's tongue, her smell no longer lingering in his lungs.

He willed himself to believe it hadn't been his fault. She was explosive, emotional, a poor driver even and would have crashed anyway, but none of it truly penetrated the thorns surrounding his heart. He should have offered her a ride home, or better still they shouldn't have fought in the first place.

But it was too late now, she was dead, never to return. Except she was standing there now, standing less than twenty feet away from him, emerald green eyes melting into ice.

* * *

_Thanks for sticking around, don't forget to review and tell me your opinions on the story! I'd love to hear them :)_


	5. Chapter 5

He heard the school bell ring, distant and muffled as if it belonged to another dimension, another realm. She stood there staring, as if she had all the time in the world, eyes hollow, expressionless.

That wasn't Skyelaar, he knew it, he believed it. A hallucination maybe, a product of his wildest imagination, then again the world was riddled with blond green eyed girls, surely her resemblance was merely a coincidence.

A soft thump on his elbow painfully tore his gaze from hers.

His eyes traveled down to find a muddy soccer ball accompanied by shouts Kaiba found annoyingly familiar.

"Moneybags!" Joey Wheeler said extending his arms as if Kaiba was a long time friend he hadn't seen in years. Kaiba was quick to stand up, shuddering at the thought of Wheeler thinking he could loom over him.

Joey snickered and put his arms down sighing.

"Gee, you'd think old pals like you and me would wanna catch up na'? He said, a smug grin dancing on his features.

Kaiba glared his infamous glare, not finding the mutts 'jokes' funny. He looked down at the soccer ball and kicked it as hard as his body would let him, sending it all the way to the other side of the vast yard.

Joey stared after the ball, jaw almost to the floor. He turned back to look at Kaiba doing his best interpretation of the CEO's glare.

"Why you little..." He muttered, his face turning an unflattering shade of red.

Kaiba smirked, only making Joey madder.

"I swear, one of these days you're gonna get it. "He mumbled trotting after the ball as Kaiba reeled his thoughts back in.

His eyes hastily shifted back to the street, the blond now gone. The trees swayed to the rhythm of the wind and a few squirrels ran around underneath them, but other than that nothing. He sighed exhaustively and blamed the incident on his recent lack of sleep; he knew he wouldn't rest if he chose to believe otherwise.

* * *

He groaned for the hundredth time since he had walked into Kaiba Corp. The system was down and he urgently needed to send an accumulation of e-mails. It took everything in him not to slam his head against his desk repeatedly to end his suffering.

Why couldn't these morons do something right?

He saved the e-mails and shut off his computer, he would just have to find work elsewhere.

His slim fingers reached down for his suitcase, clicking the silver latches open. Instantly a collection of folders and documents sprang up as if competing for his attention. He shifted through the pile of folders until he found the one he was searching for, spilling its contents out on his desk.

The LeRouse case.

The case that had rumors flying throughout the company.  
Rumors that not only threatened Kaiba's reputation but also the one of the company itself. Rumors about an inside job, frauds, betrayal. Suddenly the media speculated about whether Kaiba was losing touch, whether he truly knew who worked for him, who was on his team.

Kaiba knew he was skilled enough to not commit such a common mistake of trusting the wrong person, when it came to his company, his dynasty, he trusted no one.

His goal was to investigate enough about LeRouse to to prove he had stolen the money and, if possible, strip him off everything he owned just for insinuating Kaiba had taken the money himself, looking for an excuse to fire him.

He shifted through the pile of files, searching for nothing in particular.

The afternoon had slowly turned to night, the clouds parting only long enough to let the sun set and spread its orange spell over the city. The day had been a calm one for the most part, no saturation of meetings, no telephone ringing of its hinges, just e-mails. The blond had been shoved to the back of his mind, not wanting to distract him from taking Mokuba on an ice cream break.

They had gone to Mokuba's favorite place and talked about how things had been going lately. His younger brother's constant chatter saving Kaiba the effort to make conversation. Of course, their moment of fun had been short lived, common when dealing with a portion of Kaiba's time, resulting in him dropping Mokuba off at a friends house.

His eyes continued shifting through the files, focusing his attention on family portraits. Lance stood beside a woman who held a baby in her arms, the photograph clearly taken a few years back.

He skipped to the most recent ones, realization hitting him like a baseball in the pit of his stomach.

Lance LeRouse stood in the center, his arm around the same woman but years later, although the third person in the photograph was the very last person he expected to see.

In the middle of the two was a girl he knew all too well, feeling stupid for not having realized it before. The last name had sounded familiar but he deemed it unimportant, now he knew why.

Silver LeRouse was Lance LeRouse's only daughter.

As his eyes and fingers coordinated to dig deeper into the stack of files, his mind began brewing, concocting a plan that he knew had to be flawless.

* * *

She was back.

Her big head blocking Kaiba's view of the board, her outgrown curls masking the front of the room. He groaned, again, as he sat up and stretched his back as much as he could, leaning forward then sideways, it didn't help that Silver was nearly as tall as he was, but she seemed to move as much as he did as well. He rolled his eyes and leaned back into his chair, deciding that whatever was on the board probably wasn't that important anyway.

An inward grin had made its way upon his mind as he replayed the plan he had concocted the night before.

It was simple really; he would confront Silver and command her with every droplet of slyness he could muster, to make her dad drop the law suit. He would wrap her mind around his finger until she truly believed it was in her best interest to heed Kaiba's orders. If all else failed, he would resort to threatening to take away everything her family owned, from the largest of estates to their personal vehicle.

The lunchtime bell rang, piercing the morning air. Kaiba waited as the hallways emptied, loitering beside his locker, waiting for her to show up, the sharp words piercing his tongue in anxiety.

She quickly turned round the corner of the hallway into clear view, she didn't seem to notice Kaiba's presence as she approached her locker, hands full with new textbooks and notebooks.

Just as her strained fingers had cracked the locker door open Kaiba's slick hand reached out and slammed it shut, the loud noise echoing off the walls of the empty hall.

Silver instantly jerked back, her lips parting into a surprised cry.

"Do you mind?" She said almost shouting, anger and confusion evident in her voice.

Kaiba's smirk instinctively faltered at her sudden fiery response.

Perhaps, this wasn't to be as easy as he thought.


	6. Chapter 6

"Yes, actually I do mind." Seto snarled, stepping closer to her.

She did nothing but take a step back, eying him as if trying to understand his sudden approach.

"You approached me the other day, speaking of a lawsuit your father filed against my comp-"

"No." She interrupted, staring at him. Her confidence seemed to have shot up, her eyes defying him. Kaiba raised his brow in surprise; just who did she think she was?

"I know what you want and I'm not going to do it. I tried approaching you nicely on more than one occasion that day and you did nothing but fire away as you _always _do. If my dad thinks he has a reason to sue you, then so be it." She continued, shrugging her shoulders indicating the matter was unimportant to her.

Kaiba drew himself up to his full height, walking closer until his face was but mere inches from hers, their lashes on the verge of becoming tangled. This time she didn't step back.

"I can tear your family apart; strip you of everything you own. I know secrets about your father you'd rather not know. I'd -"

"I'm not afraid of you." She interrupted again, which was really starting to get on the CEO's nerves.

A victorious smirk danced onto her lips, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction. He realized how dangerously close he was and what impression it might give had someone else been watching, though the thought of it was a mockery to Kaiba, knowing he would never waste his time on something like her.

His eyes searched hers for even the slightest hint of rendition, finding none. She wanted him to get angry, but Kaiba wasn't going to grant her that win. He wasn't going to give her any more importance than she deserved, which in his world was less than none.

"You should be." He said in a low growl. He saw her smirk disappear as quick as it had appeared, her confidence partially shut down, yet her eyes screamed victory. He walked past her bumping into her shoulder as a sort of warning.

She stared after him observing the way his negative attitude just seemed to radiate from him. His steps were harsh and precise, like everything else about him.

His world seemed to spin backwards in an odd reality that contradicted that of the average person, thinking he could boss people around, making them do what he wanted. She was sure he was used to his demands being fulfilled without hesitation, but to her his threats were just empty promises, she had been honest, he didn't scare her. If anything the way he acted towards her only fueled her curiosity.

A sigh found its way out along with a furrowed brow. Her hand started turning the knob on her locker for the second time, appetite forgotten.

She wanted his attention, well now she had it.

* * *

He stormed out of the school, his icy blue eyes turning to fire. How dare she stand up to him like that? Did she not know who he was and what he was capable of?

His heartbeat was inhuman; he could almost feel it shattering his ribcage, bursting with rage. His eyes scanned the yard for something, _anything_ to let his rage out on. Almost out of instinct, he kicked a nearby aluminum trash can spilling out its contents, letting out a frustrated roar that echoed the cry of the can.

His plan had failed in the most obvious of ways. How could he have been stupid enough to think she would just agree like that?

Why? Because that's how it worked, how it always had been. He barked orders and people obeyed.

Simple as that.

He felt something brewing inside him, knowing he was growing to hate her, hate her with all his being.

He hated the fact that she wasn't as obeying as the rest, that she seemed to show up in all the worst places of his life, but most of all the fact that he didn't intimidate her, his ego resented it like he never thought it could. The way her silver orbs danced with victory sickened him, rose the bile into his throat and gagged him.

She thought she could stand up to him, meaning she saw an entrance, something in him she wasn't afraid of that no one else saw. He couldn't let that happen, he had to show her just what he's capable of, even if she had to find out the hard way.

Two can play at this game.

* * *

Green eyes stood hidden in the trees, observing from a distance, taking in his every move. The way the suns gentle rays made his skin glow and his hair gleam of gold sparked in him a divine stance.

He was taking deep breaths, eyes shut, fists clenched.

A small smile grew on her lips, how she remembered his temper, his boiling blood. A cool breeze seemed to calm him, ease his breathing. Blue orbs searched his surroundings, disgust and despair mixed unto his features.

He was the love of her life, her reason of existence, until that ended, but her love for him lived on. Now it had all been reduced to watching from a distance, to being the unseen observer, though soon enough that would change.

Kaiba stood, eyes lost in the world outside when a boy charged into him in pursuit of a soccer ball, evoking roaring insults at the boy. The latter was laughing hysterically which only seemed to make the blue eyed teen madder and madder.

In a sudden act of fury his fist connected with the boy's face.

The yard seemed to freeze, eyes wide and jaws dropped. The blond stumbled back a couple of steps, shaken by the punch. Seconds later he threw himself at the CEO in a desperate wrestling match, the other teens rapidly crowding around. They were running about shouting for teachers or proclaiming their bets while the two teens threw spontaneous punches at each other.

Moments later a short gray haired man burst through the school doors with a group of teens following. He shoved and shouted his way through the circle of non relinquishing teens until he made his way to the center.

Struggling, he emerged with one teen in each hand, face red and lips swelled in anger. His short arms directed them into the direction of the door while he proceeded to yell at the rest of the mass.

The blond's uniform was covered in dirt as was his disheveled hair. He was panting heavily with a small stream of blood making its way down his lower lip, chocolate brown eyes seemingly shut off from the fire they held before.

In a contrary state, Kaiba's eyes were raging with fury, their flames fed by the heavy panting and bit lip that still held his anger. He seemed to be in pain, though trying to hide it.

The two disappeared into the building unknowingly followed by a curious blond.


	7. Chapter 7

Her long legs glided down the hallway, not even a shadow extending itself behind her as the sun's weakening rays poured in through the windows. Her feet swam in the fragile air that lay spread just above the ground, her presence but a mere draft.

The school day had long since ended but the pair of teens remained in the school's main office, hours transpired in tense agony amongst the group of friends huddled at the door and peering through the window, their hushed whispers only heard amongst themselves.

She seeped into the group and reached the small window that portrayed the two teens sitting before a desk, Kaiba's face twisted in disgust, in vile anger, contrary to the other teen who's calm simplicity showed in him merely nodding away the words of the principal.

After a series of long minutes, the door creaked open and released the blond teen to the awaiting group that huddled outside. Kaiba merely stepped around them without acknowledging a soul, his brisk steps leading him further and further away in silence.

The teens shared a look of concern at his cold display before dissipating their attention.

Skyelaar stepped back, knowing they wouldn't be able to see her unless she chose to seep into their consciousness and evoke her image into their pupils. Close enough encounters had already ensued with Kaiba, but her plan wasn't yet ready to be placed into action, not yet.

She carried her body behind Kaiba, tracing his confident strides, ones that slowed down once he was out of view.

The teen ran his slim fingers through disheveled hair and furrowed his brow. His uniform shirt had buttons ripped out exposing his white muscle shirt underneath and his face bore one sole bruise on his cheek.

He retrieved his things in silence once he reached his locker, unaware of her presence. She expected him to be muttering insults under his breath or seething with anger, but instead his expression remained neutral, rendered and tired, as if all the anger he held before had drained with the encounter.

A quiet click brought the locker to a close as he begun to making his way towards the exit, the sun's rays already too dim to see clearly.

His slow steps stopped at the front door, tired eyes scanning the road for his awaited limousine. Her green eyes followed his, predicting the spectacle that would proceed when she saw the road was empty.

Quite the opposite of her prediction, the CEO momentarily shut his eyes and took a deep breath. His hand slid into his pocket, pulled out a cell phone and speed dialed someone.

His gaze scanned the road as he spoke short, concise commands, his voice never faltering.

Skyelaar felt a tingle of surprise at the teen's antics, she had never in her many years of knowing him heard him talk like that to his employees, especially when it concerned a wrong doing.

He groaned lightly and took a seat on a nearby bench, heaving out a sigh, his gaze never leaving the floor.

Minutes passed without a single sound.

Kaiba seemed patient, fidgeting with his watch when his eyes got tired of staring at the floor. Skyelaar stood on the other side of the entrance, mesmerized with the simplicity of the teen when he thought himself to be alone.

A burst of cold air broke them out of their silent trance, forcing their gazes to the front door. A messy mass of coal black hair ran inside and threw itself on Kaiba's lap, giggling all the way.

Kaiba took the child into his arms, a small smile scribbled on his lips.

"I heard about what happened Seto." Mokuba finally said after much fussing around, his low voice expressing concern.

Kaiba's formerly happy expression turned serious.

"Who told you?" He questioned with a stern tone.

Mokuba looked up and smiled, "Who else? Joey called to ask if you were home yet and bragged about how he knocked you out!" He said with excitement, swinging his two small fists in the air.

Kaiba rolled his eyes, "Don't believe everything that mutt says." He said in a low voice already stepping out into the night.

Skyelaar followed, watching Mokuba trot after Kaiba as he continued spewing out a thread of words, the joy in every one of them customary to a child. They stepped into an open door together, the chofer holding the door open ignored by Kaiba.

The eldest of the brothers didn't seem to be paying attention to the younger's words, his mind lost in other confines. He simply nodded or hummed his responses, though Mokuba never noticed, or didn't care.

Skyelaar observed Kaiba's distant antics and felt pity slowly creep into her senses. She remembered seeing the same expression in Kaiba's eyes when she spoke, when she expressed herself to him, his mind always lost, always wandering. Until it simply wandered away.

Away from her.

She knew that to please the Gods and be granted a second chance all she needed was to get a kiss from him, a sign of true love to prove that her unresolved issues on Earth were worth bringing her back.

Keen observation, she had decided, would be the best way to formulate a plan that could evoke the frozen love she knew he still held for her, somewhere deep within.

The car slowed to a halt as the siblings stepped out and into the elegant estate that stood peacefully secluded from the busy city on the other side of the hills. A thin river snaked its way around the large home until it disappeared behind a cluster of trees and a round fountain stood silent, guarding the front entrance.

Mobuka raced into the house as Kaiba simply strode in, one hand clutching his silver suitcase, the other rubbing at his temple.

Swiftly she followed close behind, never losing sight of Kaiba.

His steps took them across a broad living room and down a narrow hallway, twisting and turning like the river outside until they arrived at a door, her thin fingers tracing the furniture they passed in the teens descent towards his bedroom, stopping at last when she saw him step silently into the bathroom.

His bedroom felt empty, inhabited almost. The few belongings that signaled a person's presence were tucked away or neatly placed in rows upon shelves, the floor and walls painted in simple colors that exposed exquisite taste, although manufactured, not personal. A cold breeze swept in through a pair of open windows, its force billowing crisp white curtains in a sort of nightly dance while a single lamp spread its dimmed glow upon a charcoal colored nightstand.

Her eyes absorbed her every surrounding, absorbed the essence of Kaiba's most intimate cove. As he slid deeper and deeper into her mind, she spiraled deeper into an abyss of him, of his being, of his soul, the one she new remained buried behind the ice.

"May I help you?" Came a barking voice from behind her, thrusting itself into her thoughts and shattering the breath bounding spell.

She whirled around to be meet with his stern glance boring holes into hers, his lips tightened into a grim frown.

"I said, may I help you?" He insisted with a raising tone of voice.

He seemed to take her in, a mixture of emotions splashing onto his face like blood on a knife after a reaping, a reaping of realization, of confusion.

"No." He whispered. _"No."_


	8. Chapter 8

Her green eyes stared back at him, cracks of pain etched deep into her iris.

He took two cautious steps back, gathering his distorted thoughts, trembling fingers and stammering voice enough to make him feel the control over his body rapidly spiral out of his hands.

She was dead; the dead couldn't come back. Not when he saw her body in the mourge, saw it sealed away in a coffin for all eternity.

Images came rushing into his mind from his past experiences with Yugi and his companions, spirits, ghost, everything had seemed so real, so palpable, and now this.

He let his eyes shut as hard as they could, steading his breaths. There was no way he was going into panic mode over an illusion, over what was probably just a side effect of many sleepless nights.

Kaiba inhaled, his neurons racing to the insane beat of his heart. In the dark of his pupils, images came ripping through them. Demons, ghosts, monsters tearing him to shreds, his body falling, Skyelaar as a walking corpse, her limbs falling from her body,

To stifle a scream, he ripped his eyes open to find his bedroom once again, empty.

* * *

"So anything that bastard tells you is just a big fat pile of bullshit, you understand that?" Her father shouted in an angry tone, his cheeks tainted blood red.

Silver shifted her attention to the rear view mirror where she met her father's steely gaze peering back at her, his fists clutching the steering wheel, digging into its leather.

Ever since the lawsuit had been filed her father spent most of his time shouting things, a frown etched upon his brow. His relationship with her and her mother was now hopelessly strained, the lawsuit keeping him out of the house all day and maintaining him there at night long enough to brew up a shouting storm.

It disgusted her how much effort he was putting into this mess, especially when the chances of him winning, she knew were slim.

As much as she loved her father and would have liked to see him prevail, she was eerily aware of the power Kaiba had to control things in his favor. She knew that the CEO would pull whatever strings he could in order to secure his company and his reputation, no matter the expenses.

He had gone as far as threatening her and everything her father had worked so hard to achieve with years of serving KaibaCorp., and as much as she didn't want to believe it, she knew he was capable of following through with it.

She sighed and looked her father deep in the eyes.

"I understand." She muttered, tired of the same subject.

"Good." He barked. "I want you as far away from him as you can get, at least until this is all settled."

Silver held her breath, easing the words sitting on her tongue back into her chest, it was of no use to continue speaking of the matter.

The large brick building came into view as her father rounded the last bend, her hand already wrapped around the door handle.

She hastily muttered a farewell before stepping out of the car and onto the pathway leading to the main entrance, her gaze immediately pulled to the ground when confronted with the large multitude of laughing teens that littered the school grounds.

The dark sky painted for another rainfall, the sun well hidden behind the thick clouds, its pleading cries emanating in the form of howling winds.

The smell of wet dirt enveloped the atmosphere into a coaxing mistress, alluring before unleashing its fury.

She walked into the large school, greeted with the contrasting loudness of the human youth. She swerved and slipped through the mass of peers before arriving at her locker, a familiar figure standing inches away.

He looked tired, shoulders drooped as if reaching for Hell and tense at the same time, resisting its temptation. He stood, gaze lost in the confines of his locker, disconnected with the world around him, fragile rings sketched underneath his eyes.

She approached quietly, the awkward spell of the situation mildly suffocating.

Her cold fingers wrapped themselves around the locker handle, clicking it open and evoking Kaiba's attention.

His head turned to face her, though Silver feigned she acknowledged it and continued placing book after book inside her locker.

He continued staring, lost again in the confines of another world, as if Silver were carrying the universe on her shoulders and he simply couldn't look away.

She felt the heat rise to her cheeks, her breathing becoming labored, though from fear or something else she couldn't discern. Knowing Kaiba, anything could be sitting on the tip of his throat, ready to shred through a person's morale.

Perhaps there had been a change in the status of the lawsuit, perhaps it had affected him as much as her father though in different ways, perhaps he planned on apologizing-

"Are you alright?" She asked, interrupting herself and facing the CEO, her silver orbs trembling into his, pity injecting her heart when met with his hollow gaze.

His lips parted, as if the words on his tounge had found their realease, as if they were pleading to jump unto her awaiting ears.

His eyes fixed unto hers only seconds before she saw a familiar ice creep back to his defense. His brow furrowed and a scowl dug deep into his mouth, his sudden transformation frightening Silver.

"What the Hell do you think you're looking at?" He spat, his voice rough like sandpaper on skin.

Silver let a gulp squeeze down her throat, pain releasing into her mouth.

"Are you alright?" She asked again, knowing she was foolishly stepping unto a pond of fragile ice, her voice trembling without her consent.

She saw Kaiba's expression falter, almost as if a mask were sliding off his face, he felt it falter.

Who the Hell was she to ask that?

Ever since she had arrived all she had done was stick her nose where it didn't belong.

So what if he wasn't alright? She didn't need to know that, she wasn't going to know that. She had been prying in the wrong places at the wrong times, and it was going to end up costing her.

"Don't you ever ask me that again." He growled sicker than an angry beast, his voice rising higher and higher above the noise that surrounded them both. "We're not friends, I don't know you, and you don't know me. So stop trying to act like you do, all it's going to do is disappoint you, that I can promise."

And with that he slammed his locker, silencing the vast hallway.

He brushed past her, again ramming his shoulder onto her just to make his point clear, his harsh steps taking him further and further until they reached the men's room.

The teens surrounding remained hushed, their widened gazes landing on Silver.

* * *

Kaiba slammed the bathroom door behind him, throwing the lock into place with frenetic fingers.

The events of the previous night had resurfaced familiar emotions in him. The guilt of letting her drive into the night, the guilt of hurting her after she saved his life, after she saved _Mokuba's_ life. All those thoughts brought along questions, doubts.

Was he being the right example for Mokuba? Was he spending enough time with him?

Was he heading in the right direction with his company? Was it really taking up that much of his life?

Why did he have no friends? Why did everyone avoid him? Was it his fault?

Kaiba groaned in pure frustration, letting his body sink to the floor, head buried between cold hands.

His parents had been taken away from him almost instantly, Mokuba had almost been taken away from him that day in the orphanage, Gozaburo had left them to fend for themselves. Skyelaar had been taken from him in the cruelest of forms, and now this.

His company, the thrive of his life, was being threatened as well.

His youth he gave up, his emotions he cast away, any markings of a normal life had been stripped from him, sending him to his knees to scour the scum of the planet and remake his heart from it.

He wasn't blind, he wasn't daft. He knew who he was, they knew who he was.

Was it going to cost him his life's work? Was it going to cost everything he'd lost?

The exact same Hell he could put the LeRouse's through could be directed towards him if things continued going in the same direction and an outburst at Silver certainly wasn't going to help.

Surely she would speak ill of him to everyone, spill details about the lawsuit, about his behavior towards her and her father and the way he treated his employees, gossip about his nasty temper and the way he had threatened her in what now seemed like a weak attempt to save his sinking empire.

Long minutes passed before the hallway outside became silent, the watch on Kaiba's wrist telling him class had long since begun.

He stood, stretching his sore limbs and taking in a deep breath before wrapping his hand around the doorknob and letting himself out.

The hallway was as empty as he had expected it to be, for his sake.

Math was half over now, there was no use showing up late and having to explain why he hadn't been punctual. He walked silently over to his locker, turning the knob with the combination that had been etched into his memory since day one. He pulled the metal door open and neatly stacked his books back inside, gathering the ones he would need for his following class.

He scanned the locker one last time when he spotted it.

A piece of notebook paper neatly folded, wedged between the thin slits at the top of the locker door.


	9. Chapter 9

Kaiba stared at the folded note, his mind rapidly debating what to do with it.

Notes, he knew, were an idiosyncrasy of adolescent males and females, a childish way to communicate or convey that which couldn't or shouldn't be directly stated, something very blatantly not his _"style"._

His gaze scanned the empty hallway for any sign of the person who had placed the note in his locker, finding none.

He gently pried it out from between the slits and tucked it deep into his pocket; whatever it said would have to wait, for a more important matter now occupied his mind.

He quietly shut his locker and began walking down the empty hall, avoiding the administrator's gazes as he passed the school offices, knowing they dared not ask questions. His pristine black shoes squeaked loudly as he made his way upon the gleaming tile, twists and turns finally depositing him at the end of a lonely hallway, the library doors standing imposingly above him.

They stood in an impeccable oak wood carving, elegant details and golden handles reflecting his sea blue eyes as they peered in through the glass center of the doors, finding no one but an old man in a grey vest, crouched as he lined books on a low shelf.

His hands wrapped confidently around the outstretched handle, his steps becoming instantly muffled by the carpet beneath, concealing his entrance to everyone but one silver eyed girl.

She stepped out of the Southern School Services office having just obtained her identification and online password when the sight crossed her gaze.

Seto Kaiba stood before the library doors, peering inside.

Silver was quick to scan the secluded hallway for anyone else who might be watching, her eyes meeting no one else.

He carried a pair of books in his hands but not a faded pink hall pass like the one sitting between her fingers, clearly his escapade was clandestine.

Just as she took a step in the opposite direction to grant Kaiba the privacy she knew he'd want after his outburst, he pulled open the door and in one swift movement let himself in.

No doubt his lawyers were the best money could afford, but it was time he started taking matters into his own hands, dirtying his fingers with the work those men should have done a long time ago.

He entered to the smell of wood and books, its warmth contrasting with the cold knot settling into his stomach.

A deafening silence reigned over the vast room, its high ceilings meeting at yet another imperial dome. Tasteful paintings as well as literary posters hung selectively on the cream colored walls, wooden panels concealing the corners where the distinct walls met, like a friend who hid two kissing teens from their peers.

The crouched man remained absorbed in the task at hand, not even glancing in Kaiba's direction as he set the pair of books he carried on a cart marked "Lost and Found", making a mental note to retreat them later.

He rounded an empty table and immediately dipped himself into an isle of books, the crystal chandeliers above him lighting his path. Titles and authors rushed by him in a frenzy as he snaked his way through isles and rows of endless stories, his eyes and ears ever alert, searching for signs of a foreign presence.

The sky outside poured itself in through monstrous windows, its pale facade making the room seem as if it were floating on a cloud surrounded only by the heavens, a dizzying effect if contemplated for too long.

An assuring silence remained as Kaiba finally rounded the last corner, reaching a small wooden door marked **"Basement. Personnel Only."** He scoffed at the warning and clicked the door open, knowing said _personnel_ never locked anything that needed concealing.

He gently shut the door behind him, clicking the lock in place as he stood atop a narrow staircase. A vast room extended itself before his eyes, the remnants of a posh wine cellar now turned into the school's private archive.

Wooden panels stretched across the high ceiling that held but few dim lights hung in place by a sole wire. Several metallic cabinets sat propped up against the musty walls, each labeled with different letters of the alphabet, gleaming beneath the discreet lights.

His steps echoed loudly as he began his short descent then crossed the room, reaching the file cabinets, eyes in place.

He mentally cursed the situation his life had brought him to involve himself in as he crouched to read the small letters written on paper labels, searching for the one marked:

_'H-M'_

* * *

Skyelaar stood outside the classroom window small droplets of water falling through her as instinctively as they fell through air. Her green eyes penetrated the glass, searching for her.

After his now infamous disappearance into the bathroom, the girl left behind had been surrounded by a multitude of teens, asking about his outburst, about her relationship with him, tearing into their personal lives.

She vehemently denied having any sort of relationship with him, excusing his outburst as a natural reaction to a teen as stressed as he was.

The crowd soon dissipated in disinterest, excluding a select few.

Yugi and his group of friends were quick to form a circle around the girl, their warm smiles and gentle words approaching the situation at a more discreet pace, urging her not to think the outburst had been personal, it was merely Kaiba's way of treating everyone around him.

She smiled at their words and nodded sympathetically, though her silver orbs concealed a contradiction, they spoke of a certainty that it_ was_ personal.

She thanked them and accepted their invitation to spend lunch in their company, words of the CEO curtly buried away.

Skyelaar felt a pang in her heart upon the realization that neither teen was sitting in the classroom, both their desks empty.

Anger welled up into her eyes at the thought of having her plans ruined by a simple schoolgirl, certainly she posed no match to an undying love of many years.

No, no she wouldn't, in fact, she would benefit her plan to perfection.

* * *

Kaiba held his breath as he pulled out a set of keys from his pocket, a tangle of metallic objects swinging loudly as they moved, like a wind chime during a storm.

He quickly selected the largest one and pushed it into the awaiting lock, twisting it this way and that way until the lock gave out and clicked open.

His advanced devices always posed an advantage to him, even in situations he would have never imagined.

He slid open the metal drawer, revealing an infinite row of files, each section tabbed with letters ranging from 'H' to 'M'. His slender fingers glided rapidly across each file until reaching the tab marked 'L'.

Kaiba was well aware that any student to ingress into the school came along with a file, one that had been stacked to the brim with any and all personal information on the students. He knew that a school as prestigious as this one was at the very least thorough, gathering every last scrap of information possible.

Since his search team was gathering nothing but useless information and his planned attempts with Silver had gone down the drain, he decided it was time to do a little prying of his own, sustaining that when you wanted something done right, you had to do it yourself.

He quickly skimmed through every file he didn't need until he found the one, the file marked _LeRouse Silver._

The folder still held its coloring, its pristine condition a testament to just how new Silver was to the school.

Kaiba almost couldn't contain the triumphant grin making his way onto his lips, this file, he knew, had to contain something that could convince her into taking Kaiba's side in the lawsuit.

His eyes quickly scanned the room for intruders, then the stairs for oncoming people, finding neither.

His fingers gently placed the file onto his lap before pulling it open, revealing the extensive amount of papers concealed inside.

At the very front there was a birth certificate clipped beside a small baby picture of Silver, her features still not to his appeal. He skipped the first few pages that contained nothing but hospital records and certificates, her entrance into this world not considered a delight to the CEO.

He skimmed until he arrived at her school records, surely there had to be a reason she transferred schools in the middle of the year.

He read the first few lines finding she was an average student and a good classmate, teachers stated she had a strong temper and a wild sense of ambition, much like her father. She had gone through grade school without so much as a detention for turning in a classmate's assignment as her own, nothing out of the ordinary.

Kaiba continued, skipping past what he already knew or simply didn't need.

It wasn't until he arrived at the very last page that his interest peaked, for clipped to the rest of the file was a police report.

There was a date at the top, a date Kaiba recognized as being just two weeks ago, a short time before her transfer to the school. The sheet had a federal insignia stamped beside the date and a federal agent's signature at the very bottom.

Kaiba looked up at the sound of muffled chattering and distant footsteps then down at his watch, finding that the bell had long since rung.

He pulled the page out of the folder and folded it neatly, tucking it into his pocket alongside the note. He stacked the folder back amongst the files in the exact position he had initially found it in and closed the drawer, the automatic lock clicking into place.

He quietly made his way up the staircase and peeked through the peephole on the wooden door. The library had begun to fill with teens who scoured its shelves for necessary books or stood at the counter waiting to issue a return.

Kaiba saw no one looking his way or standing near the entrance when he slid his hand down to the doorknob and let himself out, quietly shutting the door behind him.

He instantly placed himself inside an empty isle then exited the other way, rapidly reaching the entrance to the library that was to be his exit.

Just as he was met with the mass of teens carrying books and backpacks, his steps stopped, an eerie screech coming from his shoes.

Doubling back, Kaiba entered the library, ignoring the questioning glares as he reached out for the books he'd placed on the lost and found cart then left the room in a hurry.

The hallway was now again crowded with teens that seemed to pay no extraordinary attention to him, his earlier outburst somewhat obliterated, much to Kaiba's relief, the last thing he needed was everyone thinking he needed a few appointments with the school counselor. Hell, they had probably already gotten use to them if anything.

Heavy sheets of rain fell against the building as the clear dome above once again became awash with torrents of water. An announcement over the P.A system informed everyone that the electricity was temporarily down due to heavy rain and that the automatic toilets were out of use.

Kaiba rolled his crystal blue eyes and remembered a motivational speech he had attended long ago. The silver haired man had said that when you found yourself in a bad situation, such as this one, you were to begin listing all the things you should be grateful for, one of said things being that the situation could probably be worse.

Kaiba began his mental list as he made his way down the hallway towards his locker, the list remaining empty upon his arrival.

True, things could probably be worse in the sense that his company could be going down the wayside and he could be stuck in a building full of primitive animals.

_Hm, ironic._

Kaiba sighed and instead redirected his thoughts towards the juicy stack of paperwork that would be waiting for him at the end of the day.


	10. Chapter 10

Kaiba clicked the office door shut as he quietly stepped inside.

The night view of the city greeted him with a bright moon, the first to extended itself across the sky after endless cloudy nights. Its silver glow gave birth to a myriad of stars sown into the dark cloth as well as down on Earth, the busy city trembling with shimmering lights.

Tired eyes wandered to the bubbles erupting in the water cooler, anxious ears listening to the constant humming of the computer waiting patiently at his desk for his return.

Slow footsteps led him to the assortment of papers scattered across his desk, a ring of keys looping around his finger as his gaze compartmentalized the tasks to complete.

As his hand reached down to a packet scribbled with notes and highlighter, the high pitched ringing of a telephone broke his action and instead summoned his attention.

Slim fingers wrapped themselves around the black receiver as he lifted it to his ear, his mouth shooting its usual greeting like smoke fired from a cigarette.

"Kaiba." He gruffed.

Silence.

"Hello?" He asked almost instinctively after hearing no response, eyes traveling down to the intercom, its red light flashing and signaling that the caller was not from within the building. That didn't seem at all likely, his secretary took every call and only passed on to him those she knew he was expecting.

A still silence lingered on the other side of the line, cut off only when Kaiba hung up, perspiration birthing on his neck.

A deep breath made its way down his throat as he picked up the receiver again, one finger pointed at the redial button.

A tall brunette entered the room just as he had pressed the button, her arms stacked with forms and contracts waiting to be delivered.

"I-I finished the-" She stuttered before being interrupted by the CEO.

"Do you not remember the knocking policy we established?" He scolded coldly whilst slamming the receiver down and remembering just how much he despised having a new secretary.

Her gaze fell to the floor as if she would find her answer there, her thickly glossed lips parting as to spit out an answer.

"It won't happen again." She managed to mumble, turning to look him in the eyes.

"Set them on the desk and go home." He ordered, his voice like bark being stripped off a tree. She took a quick glance at her employer before setting the folders down neatly on the desk and scurrying out, the clicking of her heels gradually fading.

He sighed and mentally swore he would start making the newer employees undergo IQ tests, for his sake.

He turned back to his desk and decided to let go of the telephone ordeal, surely a mistake had been made and someone had dialed he wrong number, hesitating upon hearing the wrong voice.

The building moaned in protest to the strong winds outside, its whipping tails crashing into the window behind him, signaling it was time to leave before the weather once again unleashed itself, besides he knew the fear Mokuba felt when a thunderstorm raged outside, despite his coy attitude about not admitting it.

He briskly packed a selection of files into his briefcase before clicking it shut, taking one last longing look at the telephone as he shut off the lights.

He stepped through the door and scanned the waiting room outside his office one last time, a strong stench of excessive perfume floating in the air. His features wrinkled in disgust at the intoxicating smell as he set his briefcase down on the floor and paused to lock his office.

A light beeping caught his attention just as he past the secretary's desk, a bright white light flashing rapidly in the dark.

Again, his briefcase met with the soft carpet beneath as Kaiba traced the source of the noise and light to a tattered cellphone sitting alone on the small desk. Its shattered screen flashed on and off, announcing the failure to send a message.

His eyes darted up at the sound of what he thought had been a hushed whisper, perhaps the secretary returning to retrieve the object, then lowered back to the device when he heard nothing more.

His fingers wrapped themselves around the worn cell phone lifting it up gently. A trickle of water slid out from a crack beneath the keypad and onto his wrist. Surely the new secretary wouldn't be carrying this piece of crap around, he highly doubted it even functioned properly anymore.

He pressed the send button and watched the screen flicker from color to black and white as a small envelope slid back and forth until bold black letters approved the send.

The screen flickered one last time before completely going dark.

Kaiba stood motionless, the phone in his hands, as if expecting something else to happen. Just as he was about to toss it into the trash his own cell phone loudly vibrated in his coat pocket, breaking the silence. He looked down at the bright light shining through the coat then back at the phone in his hands, confusion clouding over his orbs.

_"What in the world?"_ He murmured to himself, setting down the phone on the desk and slipping his hand into the coat pocket.

He pulled out his cellphone, bright blue letters announcing the arrival of a new message. He hesitated briefly before tapping the screen, an envelope opening to reveal three words Kaiba had heard only once in his life from someone besides his brother and parents, someone long gone.

His mind raced with questions as he scrolled down the message, reaching the date and sender, brow furrowing into pure confusion as his eyes scanned the bright screen.

His heart began to pound in his ears, the solitude of the night creeping into his senses.

The date was exactly the same as today, except three years ago, the sender had been tagged as unknown.

A heavy knock on the door tore through his spine, leaving a harsh tremble in its path.

"Did I startle you?" Silver said with a grin on her face as Kaiba violently turned to be met with her questioning gaze.

Her thick curls cascaded down past her shoulders in waves of black like plumes of smoke tangling amongst each other. She had changed from the school uniform into a pair of jeans that lead down to brown boots and enveloped her torso in a matching dark brown jacket, her hands well tucked into its front pockets.

"What the Hell are you doing here and who in God's name let you in?" Kaiba seethed back with ice in his voice, deciding to ignore the fact that she had indeed startled him.

"Religious, are we?" She replied taking slow steps into the office, her hands still tucked inside her coat. The familiar scent of strawberry drifted into Kaiba's nose, his stomach churning in disgust.

She stopped a few steps in front of the CEO, her gaze still not accustomed to swimming in his, instead they drifted off to the tattered cellphone sitting on the desk.

"Is that yours?" She asked, having seen him holding it before, incredulous. She took one hand out of her pocket as she picked up the broken device, a bright silver ring on her finger with a large polished stone in the middle. She turned the phone over and over, her eyes traveling its every crack.

"It's very... _apt_ for you." She joked as Kaiba snatched the phone from her hands and tucked it into his coat pocket.

"I asked you a question." He said, his tone dead like the color of the night.

"Actually you asked two and I think you know why I'm here." She replied, her expression hardening.

Kaiba stared back just as intently, his stomach flipping to the heat of a brewing lie. She couldn't know he stole the page, no one had seen him go into the basement nor come out, that he was sure of.

"I'm giving you one last chance to tell me the truth and hand it over." She said taking two more cautious steps towards him, their bodies lingering in the same aura.

She knew.

He didn't know how but she knew he'd stolen the page from her record sheet.

"Leave." He growled, peering deep into her eyes.

"If this is about the case, you're not going to find anything of use to you there." She replied, her voice becoming a plea.

"How do you know I haven't already read it?" He replied slyly as he watched her expression falter.

Her eyes widened like the moon outside, her lips curling into a frown of concern.

"Leave." He repeated, this time his confidence seeping through his triumphant grin. Her gaze dropped momentarily and Kaiba knew he had this won, whether or not anything useful was on that paper her wasn't going to give her the joy of taking it away from him.

She sighed and Kaiba watched as her eyes traveled back up meeting his.

"I'm sorry." She said in a meek whisper, the words filling the air with a strange pigment of intimacy.

Kaiba furrowed his brow at her sudden confession, her trembling eyes peering at him through her thick lashes reminding him of Mokuba when reprimanded.

"What are you talking about?" He spewed, her presence and strange behavior irritating his low amount of patience.

"The file. Your parents and my-" She began before a loud creaking interrupted her words, the building again moaning in protest and cutting into her sentence.

"What was that?" She whispered although to herself, for the CEO was no longer listening, his gaze widening in thought.

The lights in the hallway outside the waiting room began to flicker off, one by one, the computer screen on the secretary's desk doing the same.

Silver stood, hypnotized by the perfect sequencing of the lights while Kaiba nudged a key into his office door, prying it open, the girl's presence forgotten to him.

"What's going on?" She asked, panic creeping into her voice as she began to take hesitant steps towards Kaiba's office, her trembling fingers now wrapped around each other.

Her question again went unanswered as Kaiba pulled the broken cell phone from his pocket and began to take it apart. He set the pieces down on his desk and searched through them as the lamp inside his office began to dim.

Silver watched quietly as Kaiba pulled out a microchip form the phones remains, a microchip marked KC. Beneath the company's initials was a name, a name written in neat handwriting with permanent marker.

Skyelaar.

Silver panted with fear, her eyes narrowing to the name Kaiba held up with trembling fingers.

_"Skyelaar?_" She read aloud, questioning its significance just as the office lights went out completely, leaving her and Kaiba engulfed in a haunting darkness.


	11. Chapter 11

Darkness engulfed her body, shimmering lights from the city below gleaming like eyes peering back at her, taunting her.

She heard Kaiba shuffling around the room, his breathing like a beacon of light for her senses to trace.

Her insides felt frozen in shock, her heart screaming for answers with every painful beat. She felt his body brush against her back, her hair swaying to his touch as if wanting to following him.

"What happened?" She croaked, aiming her voice to where she felt him to be.

"Fuses." Was his tense response as his hand dipped into his pocket, pulling out a small flashlight and illuminating the electric panel that stood before him.

"Can you fix it?" She asked, not wanting the haunting silence to reign.

"Yes." Was his only reply, his exasperation cutting off the conversation.

Silver understood as she took hesitant steps toward the glass wall, her eyes searching the city below.

A car honked on the street far beneath the tip of the Kaiba tower, lightning swimming through the clouds like an eel. The tall building moaned yet again, as if it too were expressing its concern, the rain now splashing noisily outside.

Silver's steps stopped abruptly when muffled words seemed to float into the room, hushed and unintelligible.

"Speak up." He commanded, irritation tainting his words.

"It wasn't me." She whispered, hissing angrily, relieved he heard it too.

Kaiba swung his flashlight in her direction, then towards the door to the office, the small circle of light tracing no one. Silver's eyes darted desperately throughout the room, tearing through the darkness like darts piercing skin, aching to find something.

A flash of lightning lit the office to reveal Kaiba kneeling in front of a tangled set of wires, his fingers wrapped tensely around them.

Another murmur slipped into the room only seconds before loud thunder rolled out from behind the clouds, shaking the building to its echoing rhythm.

Kaiba shut his eyes tightly, shaking his head as if to wave away the haunting sounds. A bead of perspiration slid down his brow as he strained his eyes to snake their way through the sea of red and blue wires.

Heavy breathing broke into his effort to concentrate, turning to find Silver gasping for air, her eyes wide with fear.

Her trembling fingers emerged from her pocket with a white inhaler clenched tightly between them, both her hands struggling to shake it and set it in the right position.

Her face seemed paler than the moon, her legs quivering like the streams of city lights that strived to shine through the creeks of water rushing down the glass wall.

"Sit down." Kaiba commanded briskly as his legs shot up, flashlight pointed to the leather chair sitting inches away from the girl.

Her eyes circled over to the chair long enough to lose the inhaler from her grasp, rapidly rolling down the carpet until it stopped at the door, millimeters away from the frayed end of a brown rope.

Both their gazes met simultaneously in the same spot, hearts crashing in suspense when the rope was suddenly yanked away.

Silver let out an agonizing grunt as her torso doubled over, her hands clutching the edge of Kaiba's desk before her knees hit the floor, a muffled _thump_ emerging.

The CEO felt his own breathing falter, struggling to contain the emotions rising to the surface of his skin. Kaiba forced himself to submerge a portion of the air around him into his lungs as he extended his arms towards Silver, propping her up gently against the desk.

Another flash of lightning struck the night sky, casting a silver glow unto the tears that rolled down the girls cheeks, creating the illusion that her own eyes were dissolving onto her skin.

Her hand shot out to grasp the collar of Kaiba's trench coat, pleading screams echoing into his mind, emerging from her gaze.

Kaiba tore his eyes from hers and onto the inhaler that still sat before the entrance to the office, its gleam contrasting eerily to the dark color of the carpet beneath it.

Kaiba rose one trembling hand to his collar, wrapping his fingers around Silver's cold hand and placing it back onto her lap, his legs creaking as he stood, steps paced towards the door.

Immediately both Silver's hands shot up to her mouth, a painful gasp of fear tearing through the dark atmosphere and urging Kaiba to feed his system with the utmost bravery.

He reached the entrance, mind bleeding commands into his body to resist looking into the black abyss that extended itself outside his door, fearing what might be on the other side.

Quickly his hands retrieved the inhaler as he turned back in Silver's direction, her eyelids pushing down onto her silver orbs.

He let himself fall before her, knees hitting the floor with the same crude _thump_ that hers did. His hand wrapped tightly around the inhaler, he raised it to the air, shaking it and releasing the tension his veins were so agonizingly sustaining.

Rapidly his fingers shifted the mouthpiece until it faced her lips, pressing it gently down onto the dry pink flesh.

She weakly wrapped both lips around the inhaler, and both hands around Kaiba's, the two of them holding onto the device in an unspoken alliance.

Kaiba steadied the inhaler as she pursed her lips to absorb the medication, its effects easing down her throat, clearing the path for the vital elixir of air.

Mere seconds passed before another crack of thunder stilled the night sky, Kaiba now prying the piece from her lips and setting it down in her outstretched hands.

"Thank you." The girl breathed in but a whisper of her voice, her eyes tearing into his.

Kaiba merely grunted as he retrieved the flashlight from the floor and quickly retreated to his former stance, eyes buried in the electric panel.

Another muffled voice tore through the air, this time sounding more like a scream, distant and faded like paint dried in the sun.

Silver whimpered as she pounded her clenched fists against her ears, shutting her eyes and burying her head between her legs.

Kaiba swallowed heavily, feeling as though a pound of rocks were trying to pass through his narrow throat.

_What was that? Where was it coming from?_

Pleading questions seeped into a portion of his mind while the other portion angrily reprimanded the latter, stressing the focus of the task at hand.

Her whimper only aggravated his struggle, her fear again reminding him of Mokuba on stormy nights, his tiny figure sitting in the same position she was in, hidden in a corner of the room.

The thought urging his hands, his fingers rapidly set the wires in place, the last of the arrangements finalized.

He stood, aiming the flashlight at a black switch placed beneath the electric panel. Hope made its way into his heart as he held his breath, placing the switch between two fingers and lifting it upwards, the lights in his office instantly flashing on.

Heaving the breath, he clicked off the flashlight in his hand, tucking it safely back in his pocket as he turned to Silver, who remained in the same position, eyes tightly shut.

Kaiba took slow steps toward her, feeling as though he were comforting the child that still awaited him at home.

He let his body down on one knee as he reached her, slim fingers wrapping themselves around her wrist.

"Open your eyes, it's just me." He said, the tone in his voice fused with the soothing tranquility that always lured the small boy out of his terrorized state.

She lifted her head to the rhythm of her eyelids, her gaze instantly meeting his, a low warmth taking possession of his deep cerulean eyes.

He released her wrist and brought his body back up, extending only a hand to her as she did the same towards him, the CEO pulling her body upwards, towards him.

"Thank you." She whispered again, her voice wavering in the night, eyes searching his, silver moons drenched in the blue sea of his eyes.

His gaze broke off from hers instantly, only nodding his head as a response and heavily swallowing as he quickly released her hand and turned away from her. In silence he rounded the desk and pulled open a drawer, searching its confines until a small blade emerged between his fingers.

The night roared in fury as Kaiba's rapid steps led him to the entrance of the office, blade raised, his hand achingly tight around it.

He stopped just a mere step from the door, heart crashing into his chest.

"You coming?" He asked, his back stilled turned to her.

Silver shoved the inhaler back into her pocket as a deep breath made its way into her lungs, hoping to absorb some of the CEO's reinstated confidence as she mirrored his position, eyes helplessly lost in the darkness of the awaiting room.

With an outstretched hand, Kaiba pushed the door until it opened completely, its creaking like a warning they should have both heeded.

The pair stood perfectly still, senses peeled to their core, registering every miniscule particle in the room.

The waiting room sat impeccably untouched, every object that was once inside it finding itself intact.

The pair of camel colored couches sat huddled together beneath a wide portrait of the ocean, a small coffee table positioned at their feet holding an array of magazines.

An oblivious clock ticked away above the secretary's lonesome desk, every device completely shut off.

Kaiba slowly lowered the blade in his hands as Silver stepped past him, her eyes cautiously searching the room.

"What do you thin-" She began before being interrupted by a shrill ringing, Kaiba's cellphone vibrating loudly upon his desk. Instinctively he rushed back to the room, the small picture on the screen showing Mokuba's smiling face below his name in large blue letters.

His hand swooped the phone up from the desk and in mere seconds he was speaking into the device.

"Mokuba, I can't come home I'm sti-"

A dead line cut into his sentence, its steady pace aggravating Kaiba's desperation.

He pulled the telephone from his ear, searching the screen for information, finding nothing but a finished call.

An angry shout erupted from the teen's mouth, hand slamming the telephone onto his desk, a raging fire he did not recognize burning in his eyes.

_Skyelaar._

Her name had been printed onto that chip because he had done it himself, years ago. He had designed and assembled that phone especially for her 16th birthday once they became formal, its every detail custom designed to fit her and only her.

The police hadn't reported finding the phone among the remains of her accident, yet here it was sitting on his desk, torn apart. The last message she had tried to send had been on the very day of her accident but it had failed when the device was crushed only seconds after.

Clenched fists turned his knuckles white, their constant trembling only further infuriating the teen, for no weakness was ever to manifest upon his body. He shut his eyes tightly until it hurt, his teeth seeping into his lips until he tasted blood.

_"Seto?" _Came her voice, distant, muffled, scared.

It entered his mind and set itself upon his body, washing over his fear like water on a bleeding cut.

"Seto!" She shouted again, this time louder, closer, _horrified._

Images of a weeping Mokuba intertwined in his mind with images of Silver falling to her knees, her hand reaching out for Kaiba in desperation.

A piercing scream broke through his ears, shattering his trance and snapping his eyes open, heart racing through his blood stream. His legs tore through the night, pumping into a run as fast as his body could carry him, urgently searching for the source of the screaming, taking him into the hallway outside the waiting room.

He ran and ran until she rammed into him, her body pressing into his, her screaming draining itself into his chest, into his heart. His arms instinctively clamped around her, eyes desperately searching until they landed on the trigger to her demolition.

Hanging limply from a panel on the ceiling was Kaiba's newest secretary, her body wrapped tightly in rope, like a cocoon suspended from a branch, eyes tightly shut.

She swung slowly in circles, her uniform untouched, not a single drop of blood staining the woman's body.

Blue orbs lowered back into the hallway, not a trace of a fourth person within his sight. A sick churning broke through his stomach, trembling lungs fighting for air as he closed his eyes and paced his heart, begging his insides to regain control of his body.

Kaiba slowly raised both hands and gently placed them on Silver's shoulders, prying her body away from his.

His eyes stepped into hers, tears flowing from her silver moons, beads of water clinging to her lashes.

No words came to the CEO's lips as he watched her cry, her hands cupping her mouth in a silenced terror, features penciled into the most childish of tones.

In silence he took her by the wrist, leading her to one of the cubicle chairs, away from the horrifying sight.

One hand pulled out the rolling chair, setting it to face her as the other placed the weeping girl into the cubicle, her shaking fingers taking hold of the chair's armrests as she lowered her body into it.

Her eyes immediately shot through the glass walls, landing directly on the woman, an involuntary cry bubbling from her throat.

"No, no. Don't look at her." Kaiba instantly commanded, his fingers wrapping themselves around her chin. "Silver, look at me." He urged, turning her head until her eyes met his.

"Just look at me." He whispered, his eyes nudging their way into hers until an understanding nod finally shook off his hand.

"You have to call the police." She urged, her hands sliding into his, pressing in urgency on his fingers.

Immediately he pulled his fingers out from her grasp, violently shaking his head.

"They won't believe-" He interrupted himself, lips shutting in resign as his head bowed to retreat the last of his words.

"They won't believe _what_?" She asked harshly, dragging the last word in suspicion that Kaiba knew just what was at the core of their adventure.

His head snapped back up with a scowl across his features, narrowed eyes pointed at her.

"I don't have to give you any explanations. You shouldn't be here anyway." He growled to an impatient Silver, who's words froze onto her tongue as the adamant CEO stepped briskly out of the cubicle.

His attitude had changed so suddenly, like a glass of water that tipped over to spill its contents, only to have it instantly pulled back up to restrain from pouring out any more.

The chair creaked as Silver sprang up, following the teen's crude steps, finding him back facing her, standing directly beneath the unconscious woman, forcing his eyes up only long enough to map out the route he was to follow if he intended to get his secretary down.

"Give me the chair." He seethed upon sensing her presence, knowing he did so only to lure her away from the frightening scene, despite his icy tone.

Swallowing the turmoil of emotions brewing inside her, she stepped back into the cubicle, rapidly rolling out the large chair in Kaiba's direction.

Her gaze stayed glued to the floor as she released the chair to Kaiba's waiting hands, the small wheels squeaking as he placed it in position.

"Hold it in place and _do not_ let go." He commanded, swiftly removing his trench coat as he raised one leg to the chair, instantly followed by the other, his swaying body struggling to balance itself.

Silver grasped the chair firmly between her hands, fingernails digging deeply into the soft fabric.

In one swift movement, the blade in Kaiba's hands tore through the thin rope, the body crashing down into his awaiting arms.

Silver steadied the chair as the teen carefully stepped off it, rapidly making his way to the waiting room. She picked up the trench coat from the floor and jogged behind the teen, the eerie solitude of the hallway seeping into her skin much too quickly.

Kaiba set the woman down on one of the couches, skilled fingers pulling apart the brown rope, tugging and threading until releasing her body.

"Is she-?" Silver began immediately upon entering the room.

"No." He interrupted briskly, his head placed upon the woman's chest, the faint tapping of her heart contradicting their utmost terrifying thoughts.

"Seto, you have to call an ambulance." Silver whispered, raising Kaiba's attention to the use of his first name.

He turned to look at her, eyes wide as she clutched his trench coat achingly close to her body. Concern swam freely in her eyes, the most innocent of streaks playing across her face.

A retort sat on his lips but extinguished itself in her eyes, a mere 'no' whispered into the air between them.

If he called for an ambulance they would want to know what happened and not only did he not know, but he feared it had something to do with Skyelaar, something he could not easily explain to the paramedics, nor the police.

There was a small area in the basement that served as a makeshift infirmary for whenever an employee managed to get hurt, an area equipped with medical items that could be of use.

"Go ring for the elevator." He said as the idea chimed into his mind, her slow footsteps his only response.

The teen turned his gaze back down to the woman in synchrony with his arms, lifting her as he raised his body. Careful steps led him to the elevator doors sitting outside the elevator, Silver standing anxiously awaiting him, her eyes shifting uneasily.

The pair of metallic doors slid open with a chime, Silver stepping in then Kaiba.

"The basement." He said.

Silver eyes turned to look at him with a confused expression inside.

"The bright little button with the 'B' in the middle." He said in a taunting voice, as if he were speaking to a toddler. Her gaze stayed fixed on him for a moment before she turned and pressed the button he had described.

The ride down was quiet, except for a few of Silver's sneezes and Kaiba's grunts in response, which she assumed was his way of saying 'bless you'.

As the elevator doors finally slid open Kaiba led the way, walking into another waiting room then through a pair of glass doors, through various corridors until reaching a metallic door marked "Infirmary."

Silver extended her hand to the knob gleaming in patience before being cut off by Kaiba.

"Don't. You see the small keypad over there?" He said pointing with his gaze in the opposite direction. "Type in B1E5W8D."

Silver walked over to the keypad and did as she was told, the beeping of the buttons as her fingers glided across them, the only sound in the empty corridor. The door clicked open after only seconds in suspense, the smell of strong chemicals immediately drifting out.

Kaiba walked in first, followed by Silver who's hands still clutched the CEO's coat.

Rows of beds lined both sides of the vast room, cabinets upon cabinets placed beside them. Long shelves held towels and robes, sinks and showers discretely implemented at the end of the room. One small area held small bookshelves with a selection of books kept neatly inside, three cream colored couches lined beside them.

Kaiba was already setting the body down on the last bed, his eyes frantically searching the medicine cabinet before him. She walked over to him, setting down the coat on one of the couches, keeping her gaze fixed on him like he had advised her.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" She asked, watching as Kaiba began injecting a thick white substance into the woman's neck.

He ignored the girl's question and instead issued a now customary command to her.

"Hand me a tissue."

Silver bit her lip in resign and reached over to a small white deposit that held papery thin tissues. Her fingers gathered a wad and plucked them out, harshly placing them in Kaiba's outstretched hand.

He pressed the wad on her neck and watched as it quickly turned a dark crimson color. Silver plucked another wad, slightly larger and handed them to him, brushing her fingers against his cold ones.

They repeated the process until the tissues emerged clean and the woman's chest began to rise and fall at a steady pace.

Silver and Kaiba exchanged quick glances, glances only they knew were of triumph.

His gaze stayed fixed on the secretary seconds longer before making his way to one of the couches, letting his lean body collapse onto it in a very un-Kaiba like way, Silver following suit.

The two teens sat in an understanding silence, their eyes placed on the unconscious woman.

As the night wore one they drifted off silently into a fit full sleep until dawn came along, the first warm streams of sun pouring in from the tall windows above. Kaiba was the first to wake up, his body unused to the uncomfortable sleeping position, his bones rock hard against his muscles.

He regained his senses quickly, scanning the room for any signs that what had happened that night had maybe been a wicked nightmare.

His theory was immediately dismissed when he felt Silver's limp body leaning against his, a quiet snore emerging from her sleeping body.

The thought of shoving her body off his crossed his mind, yet something deep inside his mind refused to, thinking of the fragile girl he had encountered last night.

His eyes traveled down to her, finding her body wrapped loosely in his favorite trench coat.

A scowl, the first of the day, shot across his face like lightning, the sentiment for her shattered as he yanked the coat off her body.

She did nothing but groan and settle deeper into the couch as Kaiba scooped her off his shoulder.

He quickly put the trench coat back on, stiffing when the familiar stench of strawberry wavered into his nostrils.

Irritation welled into his mind then subsided into angst when a carefully placed note rose and fell on the secretary's chest.

Kaiba gulped thickly as he reached forward, taking the note between two fingers and setting desperate eyes upon it, finding only one word scribbled in dark crimson letters.

The name of the girl who's scent lingered in his favorite trench coat, the girl who's warm body had spent the night intimately pressed against his.

_Silver._


	12. Chapter 12

His eyes raced across the note in infinite loops, her name engraving itself into his eyelids.

_Why her? Why now? What did she want? What did it mean?  
_

Kaiba felt his heart shrink back into his chest, questions flooding his mind, drowning out any sense of logic.

He turned the note over in his trembling hands as if the answers were written somewhere in its confines, squinting harder at the text, his stomach churning when he realized it was written in what strongly resembled human blood.

A gentle creak and a low groan willed his eyes to part with the note, his hand instantly shutting itself around it, the thin paper crinkling in his palm.

"Good morning." Silver croaked weakly, although it sounded more like a question than a greeting.

Seto turned to find her sitting up on the couch, her eyes glazed with morning drowsiness, thick black curls tangled into an array.

He looked her up and down and simply nodded as a response, turning his attention back to the secretary. He heard Silver sigh, a tug of pride inching into his heart at how easily he exasperated her.

Taking two slim fingers, he wrapped his hand around the secretary's wrist, attracting her gentle pulse towards the flesh of his hands.

"Is she alright?" Silver asked in a low voice as she walked towards him.

"I'll have a medic examine her." He responded, softly placing the woman's hand back on her chest.

Muffled noises filled the air, a distant voice announcing the day's tasks through an intercom, pitting the realization to the teens that the work day at the company had already begun.

Both their eyes traveled the impeccable white walls resting on the clock that marked quarter past nine.

"What are we going to do?" She asked after the announcements ended, turning to face Kaiba.

His eyes snapped instantly towards her, his mouth curled into a frown of disbelief.

"We?" He asked raising his voice to underline his doubt.

"Since when are you an interested party?" He said in a defying tone.

Her lips parted agape, eyes igniting with rage as her body sprung instantly closer to the CEO, rapid fiery steps stopping only inches away from the taller teen.

"Since when!" She half shrieked. "Since you stole a sheet from _my_ record!"

Kaiba stood motionless in front of her, his eyes displaying his lack of interest in what she had to say.

"You know what your problem is?" He finally growled after long seconds of dissipated silence, narrowing his gaze.

"My problem?" She yelled, snatching the words from the CEO's parted lips.

"I'm not the one who has to spend lunch alone because no one has even the courage to approach you, and I'm not the one being haunted by Lord knows what!"

Her chest rose and fell violently, her breaths like embers that flew from a growing fire.

"You know what else?" She said taking a deep breath and a single lethal steps towards the CEO, the warmth of their bodies mingling.

Her silver orbs narrowed, imitating a glinting pair of knives, stabbing Kaiba's eyes.

"I'm glad you've seen the sheet and I'm glad you know your parents were _murderers_." She said, snarling the last word, mirroring the venom he so often laced into his words.

The stoic expression on Kaiba's face broke instantly, giving away to a raging fury striking his features.

"What the Hell do you think you're talking about." He seethed in a trembling whisper, his anger sparking into his words, into his trembling lips and eyes. His fists clenched until becoming white, like iron in a fire.

Silver grinned darkly, like black clouds smothering the shining moon on a dreary night.

"I knew you wouldn't have the courage to read it." She whispered, taunting the anger in Kaiba's mind until it spiraled into a blind dementia, his insides running rampant.

"Well then, I don't wanna be the one to spoil it for you." She mocked, turning on her heel and exiting the room, leaving a livid Kaiba behind.


	13. Chapter 13

* * *

Roland waited until the shiny metal doors slid open before stepping out into the small waiting room.

The large glass windows had been profusely polished and looked out towards the busiest section in the city, the tall buildings almost touching the gray horizon. A thin white layer covered nearly everything, as if someone had taken a silk blanket and decided to drape it over the city.

Behind his sunglasses Roland could see the large doors to his boss's office had been shut tightly and a large stack of paperwork sat unattended on his secretary's desk.

He took a deep breath before curtly knocking on the CEO's door, receiving a muttered response from the other side. He reached down to open the door when something brilliant caught his eye. He knelt down and took a small ring between his fingers. It seemed to be made of pure silver with a rather large gem sitting lavishly in the middle, etched inside were someones initials. He vaguely wondered why the cleaning crew hadn't spotted it, before safely tucking it into his pocket, deciding he'd ask questions later.

His attention redirected back to his task, he gently tugged the door open, not surprised to find his boss sitting at his desk, buried in work.

The creamy chocolate hair that was usually so impeccable now looked like it hadn't seen a comb in decades, the rings under his eyes more prominent than Roland had ever seen them. He couldn't remember the last time he saw his boss go home after work or even take a lunch brake since, well since a couple of days ago.

His secretary had reported an injury while walking down the stairs and was being kept in the infirmary, guarded by the tallest, ruthless men they had. Since the day of her 'accident' Kaiba scarcely left his office and only communicated the necessary amount with his employees, instructing them to let him know when the secretary regained her speech.

The school had called various times asking if Mr. Kaiba was planning on attending school anymore, to which Roland had simply replied that winter was one of the busiest times of the business year and he didn't know when Mr. Kaiba would be able to return.

Still, behind the excuses he gave, Roland knew Kaiba better than alot of other people, well enough to know that something was wrong.

"What do you want Roland?" Kaiba asked not even glancing up from a small sheet of paper he was furiously writing voice sounded rough, like snow being shoveled off the road.

The once tidy office was now littered with endless cups of coffee and various wrappers from distinct candy bars, which were surely what was keeping the CEO up and running.

"I simply came to inform you that Mokuba has arrived and is on his way up." Roland replied calmly, his eyes forever glued to the floor.

Kaiba's eyes shot up at the sound of his brother's name, and for a moment Roland thought he just might yell in excitement, which of course was preposterous knowing the kind of person Seto was.

"Thank you." He finally responded, returning to his work as if Roland had simply told him his hair looked nice today.

He modestly nodded and stepped out the door as quick as he had come in, the ring in his pocket forgotten.

Kaiba waited until he heard the elevator doors slide shut before he stood up and began clearing his desk, tossing empty cans of energy drinks into the trash and straightening out his files. He knew if his brother knew he had been surviving off of enegry drinks and candy bars, questions would be asked.

Days had passed since the whole incident with Silver and the cell phone, but Kaiba had one much bigger issue in his mind. That day after Silver rudely stormed out, he had secluded himself into his office and finally taken a glance at what the file said.

It turned out to be a police report that had been reprinted just a few weeks ago, though the date indicated it had originally been written about two years ago. Silver had been asked an endless amount of questions by numerous police officers, questions regarding the murder of a woman and a young man, or in other words, Silver's brother and mother.

Silver's mother, or Ariana LeRouse, and her brother, Fernand LeRouse, had been reported missing three years ago and were found buried beside a local country club around the time Silver's father had been fired. Foul play hadn't been the police's first guess, until they found what the file stated as 'uncategorized evidence' that led them to believe the two had been murdered for an estate, an estate that was now the very country club they were found buried beside.

Kaiba found the story intriguing, but he failed to see what any of it had to do with him or his biological parents, until he red the very last paragraph.

_"Frank Molko, the prime suspect, is currently in custody. His wife, Mia Molko is believed to be dead."_

The second he red that his mind flashed back to Mokuba's birth certificate. The school he currently attended to wasn't willing to let Mokuba study there unless Kaiba could somehow come up with his birth certificate. It took unimaginable amounts of searching and tons of money but he had finally found it among the remains of files Gozaburo had left behind.

As was expected, curiosity got the better of the older sibling and one night he simply took a peek. The name of the father was blurry and faded but the name of the mother was clearer than ice.

_Mia Molko_.

Kaiba knew his mother had died giving birth to Mokuba and so he knew the file was indeed right to state her dead, but his father commit murder?

He finally pried his mind from its thoughts and threw the last of the candy wrappers into the trash. After rapidly deciding his desk was clean enough, he made his way to the far end of his office and opened the plain white door that led to his personal restroom.

The lights switched on the minute he opened the door, everything gleaming with elegance. Kaiba had, of course, gotten use to the lavish lifestyle and so ignored how fancy his bathroom looked, instead making his way to the large mirror positioned above the shiny sink.

It took everything in him not to curl his features in disgust when he took a peek at what he looked like.

He was never one to fret over his personal appearance, but he surely wasn't one to get carried away with it either. He swiftly reached down below the sink and withdrew a thin hairbrush he remembered buying for Mokuba when his mane began to get out of control and his brother refused to cut it.

He reached up, oddly grinning and how ridiculous he looked brushing his hair, and began to run the rough bristles through the thin strands of hair. The more he brushed the neater his hair began to look, gently working the knots out at the tips. Kaiba finally set down the brush when he decided his hair looked neat enough and began turning the shiny, golden colored knob on the sink until water began pouring out.

He cupped his hands beneath the water until he gathered enough to bathe his face in it, over and over until he looked that much more awake. After drying his face with the towel he just now realized was embroiderd with his initials, he took a final glance in the mirror, undeniably proud at what he saw.

A muffled knock made its way into the small bathroom and Kaiba immediately stepped out, hurriedly making his way to the door before it burst open.

"Give. It. Back." She said in an almost deadly tone, and Kaiba almost felt like shoving her back out and locking the door, definatly not the person he was expecting.

For directly in front of him stood none other than Silver, the expression on her face displaying the uttermost hatred towards the CEO. She had her school uniform on and her backpack hung dully off her right shoulder.

"Give it back!" She shouted when Kaiba failed to respond, lightly shoving the taller teen.

He barely moved an inch and grabbed the girl's wrists when she reached out for him a second time.

"What are you talking about?" He sighed back, undoubtedly tired of their constant bickering, purposely tightening his grip on her thin wrists.

"Don't you dare play stupid with me Seto, I know you took my ring." She growled in an angry whisper, apparently oblivious to the pain.

Kaiba lightly lifted his brows at the mention of his first name, then doubted Silver even noticed she had used it.

"If you're talking about that cheap ring you were wearing the other day then I don't know where it is. Maybe you should try the gumball machine again." He replied with the snidest of smirks on his lips.

He saw her eyes burn with passionate anger before she wriggled free from his grasp, her backpack dropping to the floor with a heavy _thud_. She didn't seemed to notice, or simply didn't care, while she jabbed a finger violently at the CEO's chest, ignoring how tentavly hard it was.

"That ring belonged to my mother and Seto, I swear to God, if you don't give it back you are going to suffer." She threatened, again using his first name, much to Kaiba's dislike.

He sighed wearily as if she were just another one of his many problems and took a few steps closer to her.

"Now, Silver, tell me. Why in the world would I take your ring?" He asked in a serious tone, inching closer and closer.

"I'm clever enough to know that the second you found it missing you would run back here and demand it back, much like you just did. Now, why in the name of _all the Gods_ would I want you back here, invading my personal space and ruining my day?"

Silver's eyes seemed to finally soften in realization. As much as it annoyed her to admit it, Kaiba wasn't very fond of her, at least not as fond as she'd like. And he wasn't one to play childish games, such as stealing the others things just to tick each other off.

Her eyes traveled back up to his, realizing just how dangerously close they were. His almost dead eyes stared unamused back into hers, his lips shaped into a tight frown and for a fraction of a second, Silver wondered what would happen if she were to brush her mouth against his.

Kaiba must have noticed because his frown immediately broke into a smug grin, and Silver could almost hear him laughing inside.

"Try not to drool on the carpet." He said, his handsome grin still proudly on his lips, displaying his perfect teeth.

Silver tried her best to mask her amusement with anger. Somehow making Kaiba grin, even at her expense, made her wanna grin too, but she wasn't gonna have Kaiba think she was head over heels for him. _No way_. So instead she feigned anger at his snotty remarks.

"You _wish _you had me drooling for you." She replied, looking him up and down like he were simply another person on earth, instead of The Seto Kaiba.

His grin faded and for a moment Silver tought he just might laugh but instead he simply opened the door as a signal for her to leave.

She sighed and picked her backpack of the ground wearily, as if it weighed a hundred pounds and took one last glance at his office, the file from her record sitting out in the open in the middle of his desk.

She opened her mouth to say something about it when someone stepped through the door, immediately bursting out into knee slapping joy.

The small boy finally recovered before taking a seat behind the CEO's desk as if he were in his own home, spinning around gleefully like a young boy, which Silver suddenly realized he was.

"Nice taste big brother." He said between a fit of giggles, one small finger pointed in his direction.

Silver and Kaiba realized, in unison, that he thought they were a couple.

Mokuba continued to laugh as did Silver who didn't mind the confusion. Kaiba on the other hand cleared his throat and opened the door wider, his expression dead on serious. Mokuba cleared a few tears from the corner of his eyes and introduced himself to Silver.

"I'm Mokuba, the younger and much cuter of the Kaiba brothers." He stated extending a hand out to Silver who gladly shook it. She had to admit she was surprised anyone related to Kaiba could be this...human.

"Silver LeRouse." She replied, ignoring Kaiba's death glare.

"Sorry if I interrupted, I saw the door open and I didn't think there was anyone in here." He said, cocking his head to the side like she had seen Kaiba do when he was thinking hard about something.

Silver giggled and shook her head. "I was just leaving."

Kaiba looked at Silver like she were mad while his brother and her continued exchanging chuckles.

"She was leaving because we weren't doing _anything_. She a classmate that's all, right?" He urged, still holding the door open.

She turned to look at him with an annoyed expression on her features, rolling her eyes at his urgency for her to leave.

"I guess I'll see you later Mokuba." She finally said giving him a small wave and a smile on her way to the door. She heard Kaiba silently grunt and mutter something about a fat chance as she passed by him, his cologne suddenly overtaking her senses.

She stepped out of the office and into the familiar waiting room while Kaiba half shut the door behind him while he stood and blocked the entrance to his waved at him the way you would wave to someone you barely knew but liked already, and began making her way towards the doors to the waiting room.

Kaiba didn't bother waving back for obvious reasons and instead shifted his gaze to the shiny elevator doors, his insides twisting with dread once he saw the face reflected on them, her familiar green eyes locked on Silver.

"Silver! Wait." He shouted just as she pressed the glowing blue button to signal for the elevator. She turned to face him with a puzzled expression on her face as the elevator behind her chimed and slid its doors open.

"I think I found your ring." He said, obviously lying. He felt his heart begin to pound madly and his mind race with thoughts of what was to happen. He tried to signal her back inside using his eyes, pleading almost, but it didn't seem to be working.

"That's not funny." She said with a slight pout to her lips as she took two more steps toward the elevator door before she too saw the face, drenched in blood.

Kaiba saw her face go pale and heard her backpack hit the floor before she ran toward the waiting room, and he did the same towards her.

A horrible, _horrible _scream filled the air as the large glass windows shattered inwards and bathed the two embraced teens in glass, all Kaiba could feel was Silvers racing heart pound against his.

* * *

**Woop! Yet another one gets done. I gotta say this one took a lot less time to write than I thought, which just might be a good thing. x)**

**Anyway I hope I did a good job at keeping Kaiba in character cuz I think I got a little carried away...and don't worry about Mokuba I shall explain him in the next chapter. **

**And thank you for the reviews they really were the best Birthday present I could have ever asked for!! *Virtual Hugs***

**Don't forget to keep them coming and tell me what you like about the story =D**

**Byee Byee.....for now...tee hee hee....**


	14. Chapter 14

* * *

Kaiba slowly and painfully lifted his eyelids. His vision blurred for the few first seconds before adjusting to the wrecked waiting room.

The windows had been fully shattered, leaving a thin layer of glass all over the floor. The desk lied, overturned, in a corner along with most of the room's furniture, which had been tattered and torn beyond repair. The cold winter winds broke into the room, adding to the already present chill.

Kaiba made an attempt to move his body, silently wincing at the sharp pain in his left shoulder. His mind still buzzed from whatever impact had knocked him out and the wretched scream still rang in his ears.

A small noise emerged from somewhere behind him and Kaiba slowly turned to see Silver propped up against the wall, groaning in pain. She looked even paler than usual with a sickly yellow hue to her skin, dark crimson blood rapidly oozing out of her knee.

"Are you alright?" He asked in a hoarse voice. He was aware of just how idiotic the question sounded, though it felt like it needed to be asked nonetheless.

She looked up to meet his gaze and Kaiba could almost feel the fear in her eyes. Her bright silver orbs were glazed over in a way Kaiba had never seen them before, faded pink lips trembled madly, although wether from fear or from the cold he didn't know.

He could hear her whimpering and sniffling and almost felt as is it were his fault she was suffering, after all Skyelaar was a part of _his _past, not hers. Still, if anything they needed to be strong at a time like this, and sitting around crying certainly wasn't going to be of any help.

"Stop moping around and get up." He commanded, his tone harsher than he had intended.

Her eyes shot up in disbelief, her lips contortioning, trying to find the words lost in her mind.

"You are _unbelievable_. " She finally said, her voice wavering to the rhythm of her tears. The fear in her eyes was overtaking by something else, something passionate that radiated fury, yet she simply shook her head as if she too were aware of how futile it would be to argue at a time like this.

Kaiba let out something between a sigh and a groan while he began stepping past debris towards Silver's figure, Mokuba not once crossing his mind.

"I don't need your help." Silver pouted, her childish ways becoming almost customary. He extended his hand out nonetheless, kicking small pieces of glass away from her body, ignoring the considerable amount of exposed skin under her school skirt.

Contrary to her prior comment, Silver reached up and took Kaiba's hand, goosebumps emerging at the warmth of his skin. He gently pulled her up from the corner using his other hand to steady her body by the waist, resisting the prominent curve of it.

She sniffled and sighed while taking in their surroundings, everything overturned in only a fragment of a second. It seemed that Skyelaar had disappeared as abruptly as she had appeared, leaving nothing but a revolting mess behind.

A sudden thought popped into Silver's mind, a thought she forever regretted addressing to Kaiba.

"Where's Mokuba?"

Kaiba's eyes widened like she never knew they could, fear splattered into them. His long legs reacted much quicker than expected, already running towards his office with a desperate passion.

"Wait!" Silver shouted, her mind already creating images of what Kaiba would find once he opened the door, her stomach churning at the thought of being right.

He ignored her cry and crashed into the office door, tugging at the doorknob only to find it had been locked from the inside. Logic seemed to be forgotten as he kept struggling with the door, his groans only underlining his desperation.

Silver stood back watching as the coldest man she had ever meet managed to break down in only seconds, his love for Mokuba more than prominent. Was it wrong that somewhere deep in her heart she wanted if only a fragment of that feeling directed towards her?

The loudest groan yet struck her out of her thoughts when she turned her attention to Kaiba. He was panting now, a small amount of sweat streaming down his brow.

"Look, maybe if you just-" Silver began, cut off by a fierce yell from Kaiba as he kicked the door dead in the center, cracking it open. She watched his figure squirm into the large hole and disappear into the office, leaving her alone in the wrecked waiting room.

She sighed and stood anxisouly, straining to hear any kind of sound that could emerge from the office, a cold winter shiver creeping in through the shattered windows.

Minutes seemed to stretch into hours without a single sound coming from the other room and Silver began to worry, besides who knew where Skyelaar would be hiding now.

She took the deepest of breaths before shakily making her way across the room, her knee numb enough to make her oblivious to the pain. She stepped past a broken mirror and winced at her reflexion.

Her skin had an unhealthy hue to it an her eyes had pink underlines, she looked frail and weak, overtaken by fear. Her long curls had been messily tangled and it didn't take her long to notice that she was sweating, probably from a fever.

Silver dismissed her personal appearance and continued walking towards the office, carefully peering into the room.

It seemed untouched in comparison to the waiting room, yet Mokuba was no longer sitting in Kaiba's chair. In fact, none of the Kaiba brothers were in sight and Silver decided to step further into the room. Her eyes traveled the large office before they finally landed in a corner where Kaiba was leaning over something, or rather someone.

"Is- is he alright?" She asked stepping closer until she realized just how stupid her question was.

Mokuba lied under Kaiba, a deep gash were his stomach should be. His eyes were shut tightly as if he were still in pain, his small hand tucked deep into Kiaba's larger one.

Silver felt her body began to tremble again as she let her eyes look over Mokuba again and again, Kaiba doing the same.

"It's not his fault..." She heard Kaiba mumble under his breath before his steely blue eyes turned up to look at her.

"That should be you." He whispered, barely audible.

Silver did nothing but stare back, a blank expression on her features.

"You should be the one lying on the floor! You! This is all your fault!" He screamed, now up to his full height. He reached out and grabbed Silver's wrists like he had done only hours ago, yet it felt like years had transpired.

He violently pulled her towards him until her body crashed into his, ignoring her pained grunt. His senses felt blinded by rage, passionate fiery rage that he decided would be let out on Silver. Yet he couldn't.

The stream of hate full insults sat at the back of his tounge, waiting to be let out, yet, he couldn't. Her large moon like eyes appeared to quiver in fear, her lips doing the same, she was close enough for him to simply reach out and slam her against the wall, make her pay for what Mokuba was going through right now, if he was indeed still alive.

He could feel her chest nudge rapidly against his at her wild breathing, but he simply couldn't hurt her. He so desperately wanted to tell her he hated her, to tell her just how much her mere presence bothered him and the sight of her would make his insides vomit. Instead, instead he ended up doing something he'd have never expected from himself.

He kissed her.

* * *

**Woop another chapter done!**

**I'm aware that it's not very long but I personally like it and what comes after it. I'm sorry for the delay but who knew school could be so demanding?... **

**Anywho I've been pretty inspired lately so I hope that will result in more frequent bouts of writing. Thank you everyone who reviews, you honestly don't know how happy they make me and how anxiously I wait to read them. =]**

**Please don't forget to leave your constructive criticism if you think something is off in the story, I'm always welcome to it. =]**

**Well enough chit chat I should probably get to work on the next chapter, right?**

**Haha...Should I mention my most recent aquisition? (i.e..a boyfriend... LoL. Two weeks yesterday.!!) =D**

**Hehe yeah I'm just gonna leave now....Enjoy!**

**=D**


	15. Chapter 15

An electrifying, pounding kiss.

Like a wild tide crashing into the sharpest of cliffs.

Seto could feel his tension melt into her, he could feel the way his senses were overtaken by something he had never felt before, a hypnotizing, addictive sense of security, of being where he belonged.

He let the desperation flow through his veins and die on their lips, the heavy weight of his grief suddenly dissipating into passion.  
He sensed the tinge in his fingers, urging him to snake them around her neck, to pull her closer, to pull her into him. He felt the impulse to bite her lips, to graze her tongue with his, to strip her of her every breath and feed himself with them until he could take no more.

He fought against it though,he confined those urges into the deepest cage in his soul and strained every last cell in his being to pull himself away.

"Thank You." A hoarse whisper slithered into his ear.

Snapping open his eyes to the sight of glowing acid green orbs staring back at him, poison seeping from her gaze, he realized with frozen terror what he had done.

_Skyelaar._

She laughed, cackled like thunder during a hurricane, her sickly morbid features twisted in triumph.

"Thank you for giving me back the life you took." She uttered in that horridly dry whisper that seemed to seep into Setos every corner.

He stared back, dazed by the avalanche of feelings rushing through his body.  
Fear, confusion, dread, desperation, disgust.

"Where is she?" He asked between the painful cracks in his voice and the evident anxiety in his eyes.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" She sneered, not bothering to hide the disgust that took over her features at the mention of Silver.

Seto hesitated, not even knowing why he cared to know what happened to her when earlier that very same day he would have given anything to reverse time and stop her from ever entering his life, although whether he would have done so for his sanity or her safety he was unsure of.

Nevertheless, he convinced himself the desperation of the situation was to blame for his sudden change of heart, he had seen what events like these could do to peoples minds, and after all feelings and emotions were only products of the mind in a tragic state of weakness, similar to the one he felt in now.

Ultimately deeming those thoughts unimportant, he swiftly diverted his attention back to Skyelaar, realizing the changes that had begun to take place on her body.

Her skin no longer seemed to be peeling or cracked and took on a more vivacious, youthful complexion. Her hair also didn't look as limp or dry, now looking almost as if it contained a golden ray of sun in every strand. Emerald green gems took on the gleam they had once encapsulated, full of deadly determination and unstoppable strength.

"Am I as beautiful as you remember?" She purred upon noticing how dead set Setos eyes were on her morphing figure.

He instantly pried them away, disgust invading his being at the very thought of finding that horrid woman beautiful, for no matter how similar she managed to look to her, this monster was not the Skyelaar he once knew, always flamboyant and full of smiles.

As repulsive as her gleeful attitude had once been to him, he'd give his soul to have that Skyelaar back and erase any trace of the demon that now took her place.

A flirty giggle slid from her lips as she took slow, sensual steps toward Seto, interrupting his thoughts. Her eyes playfully defied his, despite the furious fire erupting inside his icicles trying to lure her away. Quite the opposite, she leaned in closer and closer with every step she took until her body heat begun lingering with his, their odors, their auras, becoming one.

Seto had begun to frantically pull away when Skyelaar reached up and spilled just the right words into his ear.

" I can save Mokuba."

The words lingered.  
Long and hard like the cool breeze of the midnight spell.  
Ringed in his head like a church bell on a warm Sunday afternoon.  
Sunk in like the sun behind December rainclouds.

"Just come back to me, leave the world behind, take on a new one by my side." She continued persuasively, as her peachy lips traced the contour of Setos jaw leaving behind unintentional goosebumps.

"Forget you company, forget your history, forget th-"

"How?" He interrupted, finally breathing something out, controlling his urge to shove her into the wall with all his might and run as far as humanly possible from the entire situation.

He felt her lips smirk against his neck, rejoicing in the control she finally held over him, over the man she knew had ice instead of blood flowing through him.  
Knowing she had managed to penetrate the armor.

She gently pulled her body away, meeting his hardened gaze with her sleek one.

"I have powers beyond those you could ever imagine. I may be human again but it wont be for long, a kiss can only do so much you know." She said with a misguided wink.

"Why are you doing all of this?" He demanded in a raspy shout, a voice worn out by desperation and fatigue.

"Isn't it obvious?" She answered almost immediately, as if expecting the question.

"I love you Seto, it's as simple as that. That brat doesn't deserve you and frankly I don't believe any one else on this Earth does either." She begun.

"Let's both face it, you belong to and with me. You never stopped loving me and I never stopped loving you. I forgive you for what happened and now I want to move on and be happy _together._" She said, dragging that last word as if it had any real meaning to either of them.

Seto twisted his brow into disbelief, even he sensed ridicule in the words being spoken by Skyelaar.

"You know we can't do that in this world, and because I can't permanently join yours, I see it best that you join mine." She finished, with a small grin of pride on her lips, as if her suggestion was the simplest, most obvious solution to their every problem.

_Could this really be happening? Could there be a person so damaged, so deeply, profoundly, obscenely insane that believed any of the words coming out of the girls lips?_

Her grin seemed to fade into something darker, almost as if she had read the questions running through Setos mind.

"You do still love me right?" She questioned, although it was spoken as more of a promising threat.

Seto was tempted to tell her off, to release his utmost hatred in the form of venomous words that he knew could pierce her egotistic aura, yet one small voice in his mind tied his tongue down against his teeth.

Mokuba.

His unmoving figure still lied in the corner of the room drenched in his blood, the tiniest of breaths barely escaping his lips.

Images of his eternal smile, the permanent gleam of his eyes, the feeling of having his tiny hand in his, all crowded into Setos mind at once, threatening to overflow his being with unrelenting tears.

For every dark speck in Setos life, Mokuba was always there to spread his shine on it, whether it be with his simple memory or a small moment of incessant chatter, his little brother was his motivation, his motor when he felt he could no more, his guiding light.

In the eyes of the world Seto was a heartless robot with his eyes always set on success, but in the eyes of Mokuba he was a hero, a parent, a human being with a thawing heart.

And that thought alone was enough for Seto to know what the right choice was.

As much as he detested the idea of extending Skyelaars human state, he could think of nothing else he dreaded more than to lose Mokuba.

So he took a deep breath, ignoring the stench of putrefactive death that still lingered. He summoned all the courage his heart held deep within, burying his shield of pride, and spoke the one word he knew could save his brother, and though he wouldn't admit it, maybe even Silver.

"Yes."

* * *

Wow! It's about time I got back to this! It's been so long but I've had SO much going on in my life lately and I recently reread the story and I just couldn't help getting back to it. So expect ALOT from me from now on :D

Don't forget to comment and leave your feedback! I love to hear how you think the story's going!

-Diana'


	16. Chapter 16

Air.

It swam through her lungs, it caressed her face, it surrounded her endlessly.

Air was what she saw when she glanced at her hands, what she felt when she tried to catch a single strand of her hair between her invisible fingers.

It was vast emptiness, it was nothing, it was her.

If it weren't for her labored breathing, her weakly pounding heart and her vague senses, she would have assured herself dead.

Her insides throbbed with pain and fear, she quivered with tears, she shook, yet her movements made no sound at all. It was almost as if she no longer existed, no longer belonged to life, yet she didn't belong to death either.

It seemed she was trapped somewhere in between, in an abyss that had no entrance, no exit. She was now a part of the Earth, of the clouds, of the wind and the rain, for only they knew of her insignificant existence.

Silver knew she had taken Skyelaar's place when Seto kissed her, she knew he'd given her back the life she so desperately wanted.

She remembered the painful sight in the office, the shouts and the screams. She remembered the way Seto's eyes slowly flickered shut as his face approached hers, she remembered shutting her own and letting lust take over her entire body.

Then darkness.

It suffocated her and ripped her from her body, it flushed her deep into the hollow shadows of death, it tortured her without compassion until she simply lost consciousness, lost the fight.

Her mind began wandering wild corners, it floated, it soared towards the unknown in a frenetic spiral of hurt. It flew into every her own cells and filled them to the brim with suffering, one she never new existed, and she realized her mind was taking its own life.

So she fought. Gave her heart the strength to keep beating, to keep pumping life into her veins, by thinking of the only person she knew how to.

Seto Kaiba.

That was when it stopped.

Her mind simply reset itself, it filled with memories, with feelings, senses and sensations. It recovered it's essence before gently willing her awake, as if it itself were afraid or what was awaiting her on the other side of life.

Her eyelids quivered, slowly opening and letting reason flood her being.

Fear consumed her heart when she realized she felt nothing. Fear of being dead, fear of having simply been through an atrocious nightmare.

A part of her missed the safety of the unknown, of not knowing where she would end up, of not knowing what would become of her, of not knowing what had been reality and what had not. Because in the unknown there is always hope, one that vanished the minute her translucent pupils set themselves on the hospital bed standing directly in front of her.

She took in a stale, shaky breath, struggling to expand her tired lungs, and somewhere in her mind, hearing a small voice that told her she was slowly falling into decay.

The room was unusually dim, the blinds on the windows were carefully drawn, the white floors reflected nothing as she peered down at them, the impeccable glass window etched into the door doing the same.

Only two sounds gave her signs of life: the constant, steady beeping coming from a large machine that stood guard beside the bed, and the soft melody of snores that emanated from her side.

As if expecting the sight, her eyes hurriedly rushed to the source of the snores finding Seto Kaiba sleeping on the very couch she was sitting on.

She felt her senses instantly ease themselves as she let her eyes sweetly caress him for any clue, any hope as to why she was there and where her precious life had escaped to. She wandered his face aimlessly, quietly. A myriad of questions dripping from her mind like leaks in a faulty faucet.

_Did he remember her? Had she been permanently erased from the planet? Would she ever be able to go back?_

_Where was Skyelaar?_

A shiver slid through her spine at the thought of the woman who had, in a way, taken her life. How far could a person go for the love of one man? More importantly, how far _would_ a person go for the love of a man?

Her lips began to tremble as her eyes grew hot with tears, slowly she was coming to the realization that even if she was still conscious, to the real world she was as good as dead.

Her family, her friends, Seto.

_Seto._

She couldn't remember when she started to refer to him by his first name, when she started feeling comfortable enough to think about him that personally.

_Seto._

To her it sounded so much better than Kaiba, so much more intimate, so much more special, so much more human.

_Seto_.

The man who despite having proclaimed his hate to her, had intended to kiss her when he was at his weakest.

A sorrowful sigh pushed out her tears, the warmth of them contrasting with how cool her skin felt. Her vision blurred, turning everything into a senseless blur of colors, making everything look the way it felt.

She blinked fiercely, not used to feeling so weak, so impotent.

Mokuba was in critical condition right before her eyes because of her and she had done nothing to stop it. Seto lie next to her suffering, she was sure, yet she couldn't comfort him or even offer her apologies.

The desperation wrung her heart for long, endless hours, the tears never hitting the ground.

She watched as Seto turned and fussed in his sleep, clearly disturbed by the day's events. She watched as his breathing suddenly took on a peaceful beat only to have it shatter with haunting nightmares too many times to count.

She inspected the thin hairs that conformed his eyebrows, the small, almost invisible freckles that lined his narrow nose. The forming cracks that lined his lips and the strong jawline that led to them.

As ironic as it sounded, it seemed the man displayed his entire life on his face, despite being so reserved, and Silver found the smallest of joys in reading his features for the largest portion of the night.

She sat by his side, disappointed when she saw her hand dissipate into his skin, into his hair, but hopeful when she began hearing Mokuba's quiet breathing.

As dawn began to settle in and the moon bid its last farewell, Silver felt her eyes grow weary. Maybe the tears, maybe the pain or simply the long day had worn her out, she wasn't sure.

As she let out one last sigh and settled into the couch, as close to Seto as she would dare be, there was only one thing she was entirely sure of.

The imminent fear she felt when she saw those familiar green eyes rapidly approach her, and by the deathly glare they emanated, Silver knew that Skyelaar could see her.

* * *

_Another one done! I hope you like it enough to leave a review, those are always incredibly appreciated!_

_-Peace&Love_


	17. Chapter 17

The fear paralyzed her heart.

She thought of all the movies she'd seen, where the main character did nothing to escape from danger, to evade his killer, but simply sat in horrified shock at the sudden change of events.

She thought of how silly that always seemed to her, how unrealistic.

Was it no logical that when faced with the threat of death, you would react?

Now she understood.

The fear tied her senses down into an unrecognizable knot, one that ended in the pit of her stomach. It froze the blood streaming through her veins until it seemed it didn't flow at all, quite the contrary, it felt as if her insides had turned to lead, weighing her down further than the floor, further than the boiling magma at the center of the Earth, into a place that had no name at all but was simply referred to as horror.

She wanted nothing more than to dig herself into Seto's arms until their spell broke through this haunting curse, taking the both of them to a safe haven where death just didn't exist.

Skyelaar began to chuckle once she picked up on Silver's terrified angst, her eyes gleaming the way they did when they had nothing but pure victory in mind.

She stood perfectly still, only inches away from Silver, scanning every fragment of her body like a hunter studying her prey, looking for an evident weakness.

The changes she had undergone made her almost unrecognizable, Silver noticed.

She possessed a height that made her look imposing and the way her slim body slivered with every step she took made her a fascinating thing to watch. Her golden hair and emerald eyes contrasted in an almost exotic way with her peachy skin. The fullness of her lips filled every word she pronounced with sensuality and the vicious toxins her eyes emanated made her look as dangerous as Silver knew she was.

Stunning.

Just the type of woman that she would deem deserving of a man like Seto.

"I finally found you, right where I thought you'd be." Skyelaar whispered, shattering the safety of their silence.

She took a few steps closer, her heels echoing in the hollow night. Her long nails gleamed in the moonlight like miniature blades hungry for fresh blood.

She carefully leaned down until she was only mere centimeters away from Silver's face, the smell of tobacco strong in her breath.

"Where you don't belong." Her voice growled, suddenly growing into a beastly roar as she took Silver's wrist in her cold hands, causing a horrified gasp to erupt from her lips.

The small portion of skin Skyleaar's hand touched had violently begun to glow, piercing the sick darkness and illuminating it with life again.

Silver felt the warmth immediately rush to her wrist as she watched her skin rapidly gain visibility again only to have it ripped from her the minute Skyelaar pulled back her hand.

"Why aren't you entirely dead yet? What's keeping you alive?" She shrieked full of desperation like an angry banshee, still staring at the fragment of skin on Silver's wrist.

Short gasps of air evaporated from her lips as she felt the trembling anxiousness rebound inside her heart and evoke only one shaky answer.

"The same thing that kept you alive." She barely breathed before summoning every ounce of braveness her heart contained and depositing it into fearless energy as she threw herself onto Skyelaar with all her might, involuntarily letting out an almighty roar.

Just as she had predicted, Skyelaar wasn't expecting the attack and gave into Silver's weight, crashing down loudly onto the small coffee table that sat in front of the couch.

Skyelaar screamed furiously as she reached out to shake Silver off, just as she had hoped she would do. In a matter of seconds her skin began to gleam again, filling the room with an almost divine glow and noise loud enough to wake exactly who Silver was expecting would do so.

Seto Kaiba.

As his body frantically tore through the night his icy moons raced to Mokuba before becoming absorbed in the scene unfolding in front of him, eyes widening at the sight of a gleaming Silver staring directly at him.

"Don't look at her!" Skyelaar screamed, so loud Kaiba felt his eardrums were on the verge of shattering.

She kicked and flailed her arms so violently that she successfully delivered a few blows to Silver, who groaned in triumphant agony upon realizing how easily her plan continued to play out. The more Skyelaar touched her, the longer she would stay visible, and she needed only a few sweet seconds to put in action the second and most important part of her plan.

"Kiss me!" She frantically pleaded towards Seto as she struggled to maintain Skyelaar pinned to the floor.

His mind raced around in circles, his heart tumbling down lower and lower into his stomach. How Silver had managed to come back or where she had gone in the first place was a mystery to him, all he knew was what he saw in front of him, a scared and desperate Silver asking for a simple kiss, begging for her life back.

For a fragment of a second his logic surrendered to his emotions, his mind placing itself back to the moment when he had intended to kiss Silver.

Why he had done it was still unclear to him, never had he felt a surge of passion so strong, so sudden. He blamed the tension the situation caused; surely any human being going through the fear of losing a loved one would have entered a state of weakness like he had.

Except it hadn't been the first time.

Since Silver forced herself into his life those moments of weakness had manifested themselves a lot more often and a lot stronger, making less and less sense every time.

He was convinced he never wanted to feel that surge again, at least not until he learned to master it, to control it, for emotions running loose without logic as a foundation only begun to construct a painful path towards self-destruction.

A small whimper fell from Silver's lips, her eyes still staring into his lost ones, tears crystalizing on the border of her gleaming eyes.

"Seto, please." She whispered through trembling lips, ones that gave away her crescent weakness.

_Seto._

The way she pronounced it, the way it lubricated her lips, the way it shone through her eyes even when she wasn't talking, the way she used it when no one else did, it all drove him uncontrollably crazy, crazy enough to make a decision.

His legs propelled themselves towards the pair of girls, his heart racing fastaer than he ever knew it could, and for a momiment felt as if it were sitting on the edge of implosion.

He sat on his hands and knees only inches away from Silver, Skyelaar's deafening screams and demented contorsions invoking dawn. He slowly reached out his trembling hand toward Silver, the metallic taste of fear moistening his shaking lips.

Just as he was set to wrap his icy fingers around Silver's wrist, a hand grabbed on to his.

Skyelaar had managed to free one hand from Silver's weakening grasp and had used it to stop Seto from reaching the shining girl he so desperately wanted to free. Yet it wasn't the strength of Skyelaar's grasp that had stopped his attempt to save Silver, but the simple word that Skyelaar uttered from beneath a jaded smirk.

"Mokuba."

And with that Seto let his hand easily fall from Skyelaar's grasp, for she had obviously foreseen his reaction, and along with his, Silver's.

Her awaiting lips had widened to a surprised and disappointed gasp, her eyes desperately searching Seto's for mercy. He gave in to the imploring gaze and lowered his own, as if inside he were as torn as Skyelaar's next cry.

She skillfully raised her knee until it collided with Silver's ribcage, letting out every particle of breath inside the girl and weakening her grasp.

With a flick of her wrist, Skyelaar shoved Silver's body to the side until she heard a surrendering _thud_ beside her.

A victorious cackle cracked through her venomous grin as Skyelaar eased her body up and made her way towards a fading Silver who was still fighting viciously to regain her breath.

With a mighty stomp she positioned Silver's thin wrist between her heel and the sole of her shoe, leaning her torso down close enough to mutter one last cry of victory to Silver.

"No honey, your love for him isn't keeping you alive." She seethed with bitter sweetness.

"It's only killing you."

With those hoarse final words she lifted her shoe and made her way towards Seto, confidence wrapping itself around her body.

As Silver's lungs fought for their life, her vanishing eyes blinked back burning tears, piercing through Seto's for one last time before fading into the rising sun.

* * *

_I finaly finished another one! :D_

_What did you think? What do YOU think is going to happen? I'd love to know!_


	18. Chapter 18

Carefully they shut.

Memories, feelings, thoughts, doubts, all fled his mind for a fragment of time.

Relief rapidly flooded through the small, swollen veins of his eyelids, his breathing calming itself to a point that threatened to near the limit.

For an instance it seemed he had achieved his goal; to abandon his body and bury himself in the unknown.

That instance was broken by the muffled creaking that willed his tired eyes open again, his senses still reigning over his exaggerated exhaustion.

The warm smell of soup mixed with the cool breeze that floated into the room tickled his senses, forcing him to search for his consciousness despite the fatigue in his body that screamed for sleep.

The _click clack _of heels, the _pitter patter_ of rain, the song that swaying leaves outside sang endlessly; they all seemed so far away, so muffled beneath the powerful drug of exhaustion, and for a small second he surrendered to his instinct again, releasing his eyelids to where they belonged.

"Kaiba. " Came the hushed whisper, tugging at his mind the way an eager hand tugged at his arm, evaporating the sweet spell that had begun enveloping him.

Carefully they opened.

A pair of green eyes stared back at him with concern swirling slowly inside, as did menacing venom.

"I brought you soup and some juice from the cafeteria." She said, extending a plain white bowl and a large bottle of a sickly thick orange liquid towards him.

He felt his instincts kick in, warping his features into disgust at the sight of the awful meal. Not even after the restless days, the mental deterioration or the emotional fatigue would he dare go near a hospital meal.

He grunted in disapproval as his body shifted on the uncomfortable couch, fighting to gain its usual demanding posture.

She sighed in resign and slowly backed away, whispering that he hadn't changed at all.

His insides let out yet another weary sigh and he began wondering just how many more times that was to happen without his consent.

On the other side of the mahogany tainted door, the intensive care unit was as quiet as the room he was sitting in now. Staff and family members murmured quietly, careful to maintain the undisturbed peace that the entire floor carried.

A myriad of machines gave families their hope back with their constant beeping, their constant monitoring of the patients every vital sign.

An overpowering stench of chemicals gave Kaiba the brief impression that someone was trying to smother the stench of death underneath cleaning supplies, for the brightness and neatness of everything contrasted drastically with the ambient of grief that lingered bitterly in the air.

Once again his body shifted on the couch, still not accustomed to how none comforting a hospital could be, especially when one needed it the most.

Directing his gaze toward Skyelaar, he found she had positioned herself next to Mokuba on the hospital bed, a frown of worry etched on her face. With one delicate finger she stroked his forehead, brushing away the long strands of hair that streamed down towards his face.

He watched as she adjusted the blankets around his torso, watched her readjust the tubes that feed him his life, watched her comfort the child she had almost killed.

The striking of realization is similar to that of lighting, it's strong, it's life changing and almost everyone that has been through it, deeply regrets it.

Setos stomach began churning as he realized how easily Skyelaar played him, tricking him into thinking she would save Mokuba when it was her fault he was in lying in that hospital bed in the first place.

The anger welled up inside him and began traveling up his throat, inching its way into his mouth, scalding him with bitter hate along the way. He felt a furious fire igniting deep inside him, in a place he didn't recognize, a place that felt long since forgotten, a place he secretly knew was his frozen heart.

Mokubas last giggle, last words, his last smile, his boisterous joy gleaming through his eyes when he found Silver in his office, thinking his older brother had finally let down his guard, only to have his own venom spit back out in his defense, like it always had.

Was he really rotting his own life? Was he as hateful as the world depicted him to be?

Maybe Silver wasn't very far off when she confronted him, maybe the entrance she had seen in him was wider than he dared imagine.

Silver.

She drifted into his thoughts much too easily, and lately he wasn't too concerned in getting her out of them.

He liked the way she eased his stress so smoothly, so gently. He liked the way she barged in without fearing an outburst from him, the way she teased him when she stepped impossibly closer to him, hugging him with her addicting smell.

Ironically, he hated the sleep she deprived him of, hated the amount of risks he had taken just for her lately, hated the way her simple face could remain glued to his eyelids for days.

A tremble in his jaw broke him free of his thoughts, of the confining shackles that his life had slowly become when he least expected it.

As his own pupils looked for distraction in the outer world they floated towards her.

Towards death itself.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Kaiba heard himself say, for it seemed his body and his mind were now to separate entities.

She shifted her gaze towards him as if she hadn't heard him correctly, or had simply heard and didn't understand.

"What do you mean?" She asked, innocence feigning its way into her voice.

"You know perfectly well what I mean." He murmured hoarsely into the room. His body igniting, taking a stand for the life he knew he had to gain back.

As he drew nearer, colder, harsher, she seemed to do the same.

Skyelaar pulled her body up to its full height, summoning all the strength she could, nearly matching Kaiba's menacing stance.

"You think I don't know you did this to him?" He spat, a trembling finger pointing at Mokuba.

"You think you can risk the life of my only brother, hurt an innocent person, turn my entire life into a living hell and I'm going to fucking love you for it?" He shrieked, no longer able to control his rage.

As her faded lips gathered themselves into a frown, he took one last step closer, hugging her closer with his poison.

Kaiba lowered his lips until they were almost swallowed by hers, his hand snaking its way around her neck at the same time a menacing whisper did into her mouth.

_"You're dead wrong."_

In a fragment of time his hand tightened its grip around her throat, slamming her into the wall behind her and raising her fragile body above the ground, until only her limp feet frantically wailed in the air.

As her throat desperately tried to shove a scream past the grip and into the air, her hands swung blindly and violently towards Kaiba, upon whose lips began to creep a twisted smile.

She fought harder and harder, her heart pounding upon its confines like a prisoner afraid of death, screaming, shouting with every heartbeat for help.

Finally, in a stroke of blind luck, her nail swept underneath Kaiba's eye, digging into the tender skin underneath until it was met with a small expulsion of bright crimson blood.

Instantly his eyelids clamped themselves over his eyes, a frustrated grunt emerging from his lips. As his hand lost its powerful grip, Skyelaar let out a deafening scream, a noise so pure with fear it hurt.

Kaiba's body felt like it no longer knew boundaries, taking her scream in the form of a dare, a challenge.

His hand regained its former strength, this time aided with the force of his other hand, both mercilessly closing Skyelaar's throat.

He watched as her eyes pleaded for consideration, gleamed with false repent he knew would disappear if he let her go.

His eyes took in her frightened expression, the way the corners of her lips contracted themselves in any way possible, no longer knowing what to do.

He observed the color in her face turn inhuman, unnatural.

Then it stopped.

A force much stronger than his tugged at his shoulders, at his arms and hands.

If there were desperate cries aimed at him he didn't hear them, in fact, he heard nothing at all, felt nothing at all.

Simply saw.

Saw the way his hands set Skyelaar free, only to release her to the floor below, awaiting to comfort its companion in a heap of pain.

He saw the room sway around him as he was taken away, he saw the corridors of the hospital, filled with people whose eyes were hungry for information.

He saw the lobby, the receptionists point towards the pair of glass doors, and finally the grim grey pavement below as it kissed his tear stained face.


	19. Chapter 19

"_Dip this again, would you?" A soft, delicate voice asked gently._

_The feeble sound of parting water dripped into his ears, like thick paint smearing down a mural. Almost instantly a contrasting coolness spread itself throughout his forehead, releasing refreshing droplets to run down his brow, across his cheeks and pour unto the crook of his neck._

_Not before had he realized the burning sensation that prickled his skin, one that suffocated his breathing, his senses, for his eyes had no will to open, his mouth no will to speak._

_His memories seemed distant now, irrelevant, his emotions the same. _

"_He doesn't seem to be recovering. What d'ya think we should do?" Asked the same voice._

_A reverberating sigh seemed to be his only response as the surface around him shifted._

"_Let him rest Yugi, only time will tell."_

As the door shut quietly, Silver let out a shaky breath, not surprised when it didn't disturb the peace of the room surrounding her.

Fragile leavings of a child littered the many shelves adorning the dark walls, forgotten belongings stacked carefully amongst a wooden desk that stood opposite the large bed that Seto Kaiba currently occupied.  
His shoes had been removed and placed neatly beside the bed, his coat hung limply from a small perch placed on the backside of the door.

After Yugi and a few of his friends carried him in, Silver had observed as the couple of look-alike boys emptied his few belongings onto a large nightstand, careful enough to not misplace a single thing.

She watched as the delicate fingers of a pretty brunette cleaned the dry blood that lined his features, exposing glowing pink scratches scattered across his solemn face. The friends whispered amongst themselves words of worry, words of speculation as the afternoon wore on without signs of consciousness.

They'd heard the news about Mokuba and intended on visiting Seto in the hospital, knowing that despite his off standing demeanor, he'd need them more than ever. Little did they expect the sight that greeted them.

Two uniformed men, thick and heavy, each with a meaty arm around Seto's thinly contrasting ones. His face was boiling red, swollen veins lining his neck, tears gently streaming from his eyes.

They watched incredulously as he was thrown against the rain soaked pavement, the sound that came from the collision uniquely grotesque, enough to harshly shut his eyes.

They rushed towards him and cradled him in their trembling arms before rashly deciding what to do.

The rest had been a blur to Silver, whose heart refused to calm its rustling insides as it inanely conjured the darkest of conclusions.

Silently she prayed, begged to an anonymous being that Kaiba would result alright, even if he never saw her again, even if she never felt him, all Silver needed was to know he was alive.

Her worst fears had vanished with the gang's first inspection of his body, though they lingered when he refused to awake despite their kindest efforts.

Solemnly they seemed to abandon hope, surrendering him to the awaiting claws of destiny.

And now she stood there, frightened and alone, wanting more than ever to lie by his side, to caress his skin and murmur the softest of syllables into his hair.

Shutting her eyes and taking in the same breath she let out, Silver began tracing a direct path towards the bed, her hollow footsteps unregistered to the carpet bellow.

His shattered breathing was the only sound that hung in the room, the muffled conversation that took place behind the door seeming almost ghostly to her ears, as ironic as it may be.

She stopped as she arrived at the foot of the bed, letting her eyes feverishly travel his face before she carefully released her body to the soft mattress, letting the proximity of Seto's body seep into her skin, anchoring her to the moment.

His chest slowly rose and fell as his breathing gave testament to his state, a sickly ivory hue crawling through his moist skin. It pained her to see him like this, to see a former glory fading away and giving in to a paling weakness.

A familiar sigh wove its way through her insides, one Silver was growing tired of tasting on her bitter tongue, yet it seemed to be her only companion in her hazy solitude.

As she shifted her body ever closer to Seto's, thoughts of remorse, of longing and grief began flooding her perspective.

All the harsh words, the vile tension, the spiking venom between the pair now seemed foolish, childish even. The longer she stared at his unmoving face the heavier her heart felt, heavy for being such a burden, for stepping into a situation she didn't know existed, for putting him and his family in danger, and most importantly, for bringing up his parents, the investigation, the murder.

She shuddered at the memory of the shock in his eyes, the flash of surprise that was quickly overtaken by pain, by an almost infantile fear, instantly waking her futile regret.

Who was she to break the news to him? Who was she to enter his life and disrupt it until she left it at its seams?

From the incidents with her father to the incidents with Skyelaar, from the state Mokuba was in to the state he was in and to top it all off, she had been the one to mention the murder, the crimes, the deaths.

It seemed that every dark speck of his life had turned into penetrating stains as soon as she showed up and now she wasn't very sure how she was going to wash them out, hell, she wasn't even sure she could.

As her thoughts went from unwoven strings to a never ending quilt of guilt she slowly realized why he despised her like he did, why he was reluctant to let her in when all she had ever done was bring trouble to his life.

A sad smirk tempted to cross her features when she remembered her vow to scrape against the ice he held firm around him, when she was set on finding him, finding his warmth, his heart beneath the layers of tar ridden indifference. That now seemed silly to her, after all, why would she of all people be the one to break through? He wanted nothing to do with her no matter how determined she was, no matter how much she cared.

Her rosy lips trembled as a promise ran through her heart, stating that if he awoke, if she were to live again and from Seto's lips came the command that he never wanted to see her again, she would vehemently understand.

Fresh tears began flowing from her pale eyes, tears of hurt, of pain. The kind of tears one sheds not from affection, not from love, not from passion, but from longing. That profound feeling a heart experiences when it's submerged into a sea, so close to touching the fragile bottom, yet so far from its tender entrails.

She cried and cried and cried, louder than she knew her throat could, harder than she knew her body could shake.

As her thin fingers clutched fervently, hopelessly at the bed sheets, other fingers wrapped themselves around the glimmering doorknob.

So wound up in her own dwelling, Silver failed to take notice of the man now entering the room, though the same cannot be said from his behalf. For as soon as the wooden door creaked open, her desperate wails reached his ear, her torn appearance pierced his amethyst eyes.

He watched as she gave in, letting her body slide from the bed until she was on the floor, on her knees, face in trembling hands.

He recognized her instantly as the new girl from school, indeed her identity was not what puzzled him.

What puzzled him was why she was knelled before Kaiba, crying her heart out. What puzzled him was what she was doing there, how she got in without anyone seeing her.

Despite his frantic questions, he made only one that truly mattered.

"Are you alright?" His deep, concerned voice resonated through the room, unsure of the propriety of approaching her.

Silver whirled around, her long locks floating in the sudden wind.

Her face had been tainted red, almost as if she had cried blood instead of tears, her pale, delicate skin had swollen with hurt. Her lips had stopped trembling with wails, insecurity taking its place.

Her eyes darted from herself to him in a mad frenzy as she tried to tie together the words forming in her mind, her hoarse throat barely murmuring the fragments of questions that fled towards her lips.

"Yo-you can see me?" She finally whispered.

Her question seemed to confuse the man before her, whose name she could not remember but face felt warmly familiar.

His brow furrowed as his eyes searched hers for an answer to her own question, his legs cautiously approaching her.

"Why wouldn't I be able to see you? You're standing right before me." He responded quietly, his inordinately calm voice sending spontaneous chills down Silver's spine.

As he neared her fallen self, she realized she hadn't an answer to his question, at least, not one that made sense, that contained sufficient logic to be truly believable, making her question, in a far corner of her mind, her sanity.

"I- I think that I'm…" She began, unsure of the path she should take, unsure of the amount of trust she could deposit in the man that now stood directly above her.

"You think you're what?" He asked, urging her with his tender eyes to continue.

"Yami, who are you talking to?" A voice sprang from the doorway accompanied by a series of curious eyes and curious faces all directed towards the spiky haired man.

"The new girl from school," he replied eagerly, "Your name is Silver, correct?" He asked as a kind hand reached out towards her.

Silver watched as the small group of friends exchanged confused glances, though it was the shorter boy who mirrored the man standing before her that spoke.

"Yami, there's no one there." He said, his voice gentle and soft though his face expressed concern.

"Of course there is Yugi!" Yami said loudly, an incredulous tone in his voice. "Why she's sitting right here, at the foot of the bed." He stated confidently, returning his gaze towards Silver.

The teens at the doorway murmured amongst themselves yet again, unsure of how to proceed, unsure of how to approach their friend's odd behavior.

Yami slowly knelt until he was face to face with Silver, concern taking over his wide eyes as he further examined her distraught condition.

He gently placed his hands on Silver's arms in a comforting sort of embrace, feeling her tender skin shiver beneath his fingertips.

"What's happened to you?" He whispered solemnly at the same time that a familiar glow began overtaking Silver's body.

Sudden gasps erupted from the group of friends as they watched in matched astonishment the light that filled the room, that blinded them for a mere seconds and greeted their eyes with the sight of the young girl, frightened and confused.

As he fear grew larger and larger her trembling gaze met Yami's understanding one, slowly nodding his head in familiarity as she broke down into tears once again and collapsed into his awaiting arms.

* * *

_Feel free to review! :D It's much appreciated._


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